Casino gaming: From offline to online
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The gambling industry in Canada is worth $14.72 billion US dollars. People are choosing to play online casino games instead of visiting licenced casinos. The government’s changes to legislation and changes in lifestyles are to blame for this.
Gambling has been part of Canadian culture for centuries. A government ban in 1892 led to underground gambling and mob activity. Charity bingo was legalized in 1900, horse racing in 1910 and gambling at events in 1925. In 1970, the introduction of gambling licences paved the way for the modern casino industry. The first legal commercial casino opened in Winnipeg in 1989 and a second opened four years later in Montreal. By the early 2000’s, at least 59 land-based casinos had been established and the country had almost 32,000 slot machines. Online casinos were still in their infancy when the World Wide Web became available in the 1990s.
The creation of the internet in the 90's helped develop the gaming industry. The first online casino launched in 1994. Many people prefer to play online casinos over visiting a land-based venue. Canadian residents can access all offshore online gambling businesses. Current laws make it difficult for online gaming businesses to be based within Canada. It is hoped that changes to the law will help resolve this issue. Online casinos are popular as players can play the games anytime, anywhere on handheld devices such as a smartphone. There are thousands of slots, roulette and table games like poker and blackjack available at a few clicks of a button.
