The push toward a new igaming regulatory regime in Alberta seems to be progressing unabated.
Last time we reported on this in March, Dale Nally, the Alberta government’s Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, was given a mandate by Alberta premier Danielle Smith to work with Indigenous partners to develop and implement Alberta’s online gaming strategy, focusing on responsible gaming and provincial and Indigenous revenue generation.
In a statement, Nally said, “Alberta can be a leading hub for igaming, with a strong emphasis on openness and a free market. We have low corporate taxes, streamlined regulations, and high disposable incomes. These conditions will allow us to establish ourselves as a premier destination for the igaming industry.”
In the latest update, according to a spokesperson from Minister Nally’s office, this past week, meetings between government and First Nations representations began, “to hear their perspectives on the potential implications and opportunities presented by an igaming model in Alberta.”
Meetings will continue through June and July, the spokesperson said, adding that government officials will also be meeting with traditional casino operators and Racing Entertainment Centres operators this summer.
“We are committed to working with our partners to finish developing and implementing the province’s online gaming strategy, with a focus on responsible gaming and provincial and Indigenous revenue generation,” the spokesperson said. “We recognize that it is important that any expansion of Alberta’s iGaming strategy is done in a way that makes sense for our unique gaming market and serves the interests of all Albertans. As part of our policy development process, and as we look at moving to a more open regulated online gaming market, we will continue to examine best practices from other jurisdictions, including Ontario.”
As had previously been the case in Ontario with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), the Alberta Gaming, Lottery & Cannabis is still the only platform where Albertans can bet legally at the present time, and they say they’re on board with a shift to an Ontario-style model.
AGLC estimates that 45 percent of the market in Alberta has been captured by the legal Play Alberta platform, while the balance is controlled by the illegal igaming market.
“The future for Alberta remains to be seen,” said Dan Keene, VP of Gaming for AGLC. “We support our Minister of Service Alberta, Dale Nally, in terms of his approach and his mandate to work on opening the igaming market, to make it legal. AGLC stands in firm support of that. But until such time as that happens, the remainder of the market is really the illegal market that’s capturing the remainder of that share.”
