The question of which Canadian province will follow in the footsteps of Ontario and build its own open, competitive, and regulated online casino and sports betting market took some interesting turns these past couple weeks.
Industry attendees at the recent ICE conference in London might have noticed Dale Nally, Alberta’s Minister of Service and Red Tape Reduction in attendance. Nally took part in a roundtable with Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey to discuss igaming in Canada, the success in Ontario, and how Alberta foresees similar success.
A spokesperson for Nally’s office says the Alberta government is in the exploratory phase of a rollout similar to the regulatory regime that has been in place in Ontario since April 2022. Nothing is certain, but it’s trending in that direction.
According to the fiscal-year 20223-2024 third-quarter market-performance report released by iGaming Ontario last month (covering the period from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023), total wagers in the province were $17.2 billion, a 21 percent increase over quarter two (not including promotional wagers). Total gaming revenue was $658 million, a 22 percent increase over Q2.
The mandate Nally has been given by Alberta premier Danielle Smith is 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.”
Late last year, Alberta jumping ahead of Quebec as the next Canadian province to follow Ontarios seemed unlikely. That’s not the case now. In an article published in La Tribune in Sherbrooke, QC, earlier this week, a spokesperson for Quebec’s Finance Minister Eric Girard said the provincial government won’t follow Ontario’s lead and will not create a market that competes with the Loto-Québec monopoly, citing “overexposure to online-gambling advertisements and a trivialization of gambling.”
That’s driving the folks at Quebec Online Gaming Coalition a little crazy.
The coalition, comprising Betway, Bet99, DraftKings, Entain, Flutter, Games Global, and Rush Street Interactive and partnering with Apricot Investments, is committed to working with the Quebec government and local stakeholders to develop a new regulatory framework for the province.
In December, the coalition announced a partnership with GeoComply, the Vancouver-based company with offices throughout the country that detects location fraud and helps verify a user’s true digital identity, in order to paint a clearer picture of Quebecers’ playing habits.
Quebec Online Gaming Coalition spokesperson Nathalie Bergeron told CDC Gaming Reports on Friday that the GeoComply data shining more light on Quebecers’ playing habits will be released “very soon.”
In late November, the coalition released a survey of 1,101 Quebecers conducted by Mainstreet Research, revealing that the 72% of Québec players who use Loto-Québec’s Espace Jeux platform do so exclusively to buy lottery tickets. When excluding Quebec players who use Loto-Québec Espace Jeux to buy lottery tickets only, the survey found that just 26.6 percent players visit the site to play online games and for sports betting.
“Newsflash: Our studies show that three out of four players in Quebec are doing so on private platforms,” she said. “That partnership with GeoComply will be key in making sure that we keep presenting the reality. The government can’t continue to put its head in the sand. Right now, they’re living in a universe where if they decide they’re against it, it’s going to go away.
“We find the comments [by the Girard spokesperson] a little disappointing. However, it reinforces our commitment to make sure to continue to bring forward relevant data and facts from the industry, so the government can make evidence-based decisions.”
Bergeron said the coalition is in this for the long run.
“We knew this would be a process that would take time,” she said. “However, we feel that the government isn’t keeping track of what’s happening in the field, what Quebec players are doing. The comments address key concerns that would be resolved if the government was bringing in a regulated market.
“If you’re looking at the comments about the proliferation of advertising, by putting in a licensing system, [the government] would have all the opportunities in the world with strict guidelines to address those concerns.”
Bergeron added that Girard’s comments run counter to what “experts and scientists” leading the field are saying, referencing the 2014 Online Gambling Task Force report, chaired by Dr. Louise Nadeau. That included Dr. Catherine Paradis with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, as well as academics from several Quebec universities; they agreed that it was time for Quebec to modernize its current gaming system.
In fact, Ontario put in place a number of the recommendations from the Nadeau report, led by a licensing system for private operators, Bergeron said.
