B.C.’s Independent Gambling Control Office released a statement on Friday to clarify that many activities offered by prediction markets are considered unregulated gambling and are therefore illegal in the province.
This follows a federal regulator’s notice that prediction markets dealing in “event contracts, prediction contracts or prediction market contracts” should not be regulated as securities and derivatives.
The most well-known prediction markets are Polymarket and Kalshi, which allow users to “trade” contracts on outcomes ranging from sports to elections to whether Jesus Christ will return before the end of the year.
The Gambling Control Office says that under B.C.’s current legislation, products based on sports or entertainment outcomes are considered gambling.
