The Continuous Growth of Online Gambling in Canada

The global gambling market is already worth billions of dollars as of today. It is even expected to gain revenues of over 500 billion US Dollars by 2023. This makes it one of the continuously growing industries out there.

Canada is now on the top 10 list of countries with most gamblers out there. This may be because the laws that surround gambling in this country is not too strict. It’s not even as strict as to how things are in the US. Basically, Canadians have more options when it comes to gambling and this helps the Canadian gambling industry to just grow.

A research conducted by Research and Markets regarding the gambling industry in Canada found that the gambling industry in Canada is mainly characterized by a shift from traditional gambling activities to online gambling.

This just makes sense as online gambling is now one of the biggest sectors of the gambling industry. The ease of access and convenience are mainly why people now prefer to gamble online. In Canada, land-based casinos are now known to have decreased revenues each year.

Yearly, the Canadian online gaming industry earns around $31 billion and this includes the online casino gaming sector. These include live dealer games, keno, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, slots, table games, pokies or video poker, and card games.

Blackjack is mainly the most popular casino game in Canada. This is understandable as it is one of the easiest casino games out there. Online casinos offer many varieties of this game, and many prefer playing it with a live dealer. Players can just check the Canadian live dealer guide and play this game right away.

The online gambling industry is just expected to grow bigger not only in Canada. Aside from convenience, many online casinos showcase modern ways to play popular casino games. The advancement of technology is what mainly helps casino software providers up their games.

Some of the most popular casino software providers in Canada are Microgaming, NetEnt, PlayTech, and Real Time Gaming. These are software providers that offer a lot of ways to play casino staples like Poker, Blackjack, and Slots.

While online gambling is becoming the real trend worldwide, Canada doesn’t still seem to have a clear stand when it comes to this. It appears that online gambling is socially acceptable in Canada, but legally, things are quite different.

The Criminal Code of Canada states that non-state licensed operators are not really allowed to accept bets from Canadians online. However, despite this law, Canadians are still free to access off-shore online casinos, poker rooms, bingo places, and bookies.

The Canadian government has pretty much taken a decentralized approach when it comes to gambling in general. Each province or territory is allowed to have their own take and laws regarding gambling within their borders.

Quebec is really the first state that is the biggest and well-established when it comes to online gambling in the country. It’s just really the state that others in the country are following when it comes to building their gambling laws.

Provinces like Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan are basically aiming to follow Quebec when it comes to gambling legislation. However, online gambling or iGaming seems to be what they’re all heading for. Land-based casino projects are starting to get rejections in the country.

The growth of the gambling industry in Canada was noticed during the post-recession period which was 2012 onwards. Gambling through land-based casinos, online casinos, land and online sportsbooks, lotteries, and many more all grew in the past years.

Ontario is known to have the most gamblers in Canada. In fact, it is even listed as the top territory to have the highest gambling revenue in the country.

The CAGR of Ontario is at 28.1% while British Columbia is at 24.6% and Quebec at 20.3%. Quebec, however, is quick when it comes to the rise of revenues. Quebec’s revenues have an increase of around 2.12% each year. This made the territory generate over 3 billion Canadian Dollars of revenue each year.

Despite the revenues that many off-shore casinos earn from Canadians, the government still seems to be sleeping on solidifying the legislation of online casinos in Canada. Many Canadian online casino players and operators are still in the grey with regard to this matter.

With all these numbers, the path of online gambling seems to be what Canada is heading towards. The advancements in technology that includes mobile technology and virtual and augmented reality technology are all pushing for the growth of online gambling worldwide.