What's The Status Of Canada Sports Betting in Ontario?

Ontario’s auditor general reports concerns over online sports betting in her province.
GAN is working with a tier-one US-Based sportsbook to bring wagering to Ontario.
Pressure is mounting to get sports betting online before the Super Bowl happens.

OTTAWA – The Canadian sports betting industry has been growing exponentially in recent months, and with that comes challenges. There are some major moves being made on that front, so what is the state of Canada’s sports betting scene currently?

Ontario Online Wagering Legal

In a report from Bonnie Lysyk, Ontario’s auditor general, she expressed some concern over the legality of online Canadian sports betting and casino gambling in her province.

All forms of commercial gambling are still not allowed unless conducted by a province, and so Lysyk believes that there is “legal risk with respect to whether iGaming Ontario meets the ‘conduct and manage’ threshold set out in the Criminal Code,”

There is some pressure for the online market to be up and running before the Super Bowl, and the report does outline a few different recommendations on how to proceed. It remains to be seen if the market will be up in time for Super Bowl 56.

Ontario Getting Tier One US Sportsbook

In other Ontario news, gaming company GAN announced in a press release on Thursday that they’ll be working with a “tier one” sportsbook from the United States to provide sports betting to Ontario.

The identity of the US sportsbook that GAN is working with was not revealed, though the fact that it’s labeled as tier one does narrow the possibilities down to DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.

Commercial sportsbooks have yet to receive a firm launch date for their operating licenses, and it may not be until 2022 that they can begin receiving wagers.

Sports Betting Available In Canada

Ontario does offer legal sports betting through Pro-Line+, but the options are limited, and bettors can only bet on single games. Meanwhile, Quebec utilizes a platform called Mise-o-jeu, which also offers single-game betting to its residents.

In most other provinces, sports betting is handled either by Western Canada Lottery corporation, Sport Select, or British Columbia Lottery Corporation

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Evan Thornton

Evan’s passion for writing has guided his entire life, from winning enough money in writing scholarships to pay for his college, to his hobby of personal fictitious works. Research and writing simply come naturally to him. Whether at work or at home, Evan is probably either researching something he plans to write, or writing it.