Alberta sets stage for private online gambling companies to operate legally

Joel Dryden · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 5:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

The Alberta authorities is preparing to unfastened the province's online gambling marketplace to backstage companies similar Bet365 successful a bid to modulate much of the manufacture and seizure gross presently headed elsewhere. 

Up until now, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC)-run Play Alberta was the lone regulated online gambling website successful Alberta. 

But players could inactive gamble connected the alleged "grey market" — referring to offshore gambling websites similar Bet365 and Bodog, that aren't officially licensed by the state but are inactive accessible to Alberta residents.

Proposed authorities tabled today, called the iGaming Alberta Act, would make a caller Crown corporation, the Alberta iGaming Corporation, to oversee the caller market and enactment the AGLC successful complaint of regulation. 

The extremity is to bring much players into a ineligible system, adhd user protections similar self-exclusion tools, and support gambling gross successful the state alternatively than suffer it to unregulated oregon offshore sites, according to Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally.

The state has said it took inspiration from a exemplary already successful spot successful Ontario. Ontario was the archetypal state to let a regulated sports betting programme successful 2022, allowing aggregate operators to supply gambling services. 

"Albertans person said to us, wherefore don't you bash the aforesaid here? Why don't you enactment successful spot information measures? Why don't you halt the wealth from leaving the province, and support immoderate of it successful Alberta?" Nally said successful an interview.

In summation to the "grey market," there's besides the "black market," which Nally said includes those websites with nary volition of ever becoming ineligible that volition sometimes proceed to marketplace to players adjacent should they bespeak they person developed an addiction.

"To beryllium clear, gambling is ne'er safe, but you tin marque it safer. And that's what we're going to do," Nally said.

The Alberta authorities had antecedently passed authorities and held consultations opening the doorway to the anticipation of regulating and overseeing iGaming activities. 

Player extortion and addiction

In Ontario, online gaming platforms generated $2.2 cardinal successful full gaming gross successful the 2nd twelvemonth the marketplace was successful operation, according to iGaming Ontario's 2023-2024 yearly report. 

It has besides kicked disconnected a statement successful that state astir whether accrued levels of advertizing person led to an summation successful gambling addictions.

"There has been an detonation of … successful our view, unregulated ads, which person led to a immense summation successful gambling, sports betting and related addictions," Bruce Kidd, co-chair of the Ban Ads for Gambling campaign, told CBC Toronto earlier this month.

The state says it tin acceptable rules for however registered gambling companies advertise successful Alberta, similar limiting definite types of promotions. But it's a antithetic substance for ads from companies based successful different provinces oregon countries, particularly those shown connected nationalist TV oregon online.

"We don't power the advertising, the CRTC does. And truthful that's portion of the situation that we have, is that iGaming is live and well," Nally said. 

WATCH | Ontario online gambling manufacture generates billions successful revenue:

Last fall, erstwhile Alberta announced it was considering this expansion, David Hodgins, a prof of objective science astatine the University of Calgary and probe manager with the Alberta Gaming Research Institute, emphasized the request for wide guardrails and policies, peculiarly astir advertizing and subordinate protection.

Researchers similar Hodgins accidental the full representation astir the implications of Ontario's enlargement are inactive unclear.

"We cognize that the fig of calls to the helpline and the fig of radical who are seeking attraction has increased. So those are indirect ways that we cognize that determination is thing to beryllium acrophobic about," helium said successful September.

"But for thing similar gambling, it's unthinkable that we don't person a truly bully surveillance methodology and ongoing surveillance crossed the country."

Hodgins had identified respective ways Alberta could implement stronger guardrails astir its online gambling landscape. That would see mandatory pre-commitment limits — requiring players to acceptable a maximum magnitude of wealth they're consenting to walk earlier they commencement gambling.

He besides called for cosmopolitan self-exclusion tools that would use crossed each gambling platforms. Those tools would let players to artifact themselves from each gambling sites and venues astatine once, not conscionable one. 

The state said that should the iGaming Alberta Act pass, a cardinal self-exclusion strategy would beryllium implemented. That would let Albertans to restrict their information crossed each regulated sites, arsenic good arsenic land-based casinos and horse racing facilities with casino elements.

Other details astir further guardrails and what gross splits with operators volition beryllium acceptable astatine volition beryllium elaborate successful the coming months, Nally said.

Charities had voiced concern

After Alberta initially outlined its plans past year, section charities and accepted casinos voiced interest astir a caller scenery dominated by iGaming websites.

"We deliberation the Ontario exemplary volition beryllium precise damaging to casinos successful Alberta and charities volition suffer retired importantly arsenic a result. We deliberation that's going to beryllium a catastrophe and they request to instrumentality the clip to get it right," Michael Thompson, enforcement manager of the Alberta Charitable Casino Operators, said successful November.

From 2023 to 2024, the state gave $409 cardinal to charities, with $79 cardinal raised by big First Nation charities, according to the AGLC.

"I've heard comments that online gaming is going to cannibalize the charities. The information is, they already are," Nally said. 

"That wealth is leaving the province. We're saying, since it's happening, let's person it hap successful a safer format than it presently is. And let's support immoderate of the revenues to enactment successful the province."

The state has estimated that, astatine present, its Play Alberta website captures astir 45 per cent of the marketplace share. In 2023-2024, $235 cardinal was generated done Play Alberta, an summation of $42 cardinal from the twelvemonth prior.

Nally said helium anticipated that the caller statement would beryllium operational aboriginal this twelvemonth oregon aboriginal successful 2026.