In Canada, online casinos are widely available and very popular. Online gambling is generally legal in Canada, apart from some provincial and municipal restrictions. Except for a few nuances in Canadian law, citizens of this country are given considerable freedom in the matter of betting on sports, playing poker or blackjack online.
Canada is considered to be a friendlier country for gamblers and gambling operators than the United States. Canada as a whole seems to be more liberal to the idea of legal gambling. This is strange given that they border the United States to the south, whose government is rather anti-gambling.
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Even in cases where the law has banned online gambling, the federal government (as well as regional governments) has not prosecuted players for placing bets online. The local government is committed to protecting local regulated gambling platforms and encourages citizens to play on those platforms. If you live in Canada and want to place certain bets online, you have nothing to fear, as long as you have reached the minimum player age set by your province.
There are currently more than 450 licensed online casinos that accept the Canadian dollar as currency and use the English language. However, we remember that some Canadians speak French. So I checked and found that more than 120 licensed sites support the Canadian dollar and offer software and customer service in French.
Either way, Canadian players have a great selection of sites available.
Top 4 Casino Sites.
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British Columbia.
Alberta
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Ontario
Newfoundland
Prince Edward Island
Are Canadian online casinos legal?
Online gambling law in Canada falls into two general categories: provincial law and native law. Canadian law allows each province to set its own online gambling laws. Most have chosen to run their own gaming and lottery sites.
But there is one problem. Native tribes cite historical precedent that gives them the right to offer games for luck and skill outside of regional and federal laws. One group, the Kahnawake Gaming Commitsion, is using this precedent to offer gambling to millions of people around the world. To date, the regional and federal governments have recognized this right without any interference.
In general, online gambling is legal in most parts of Canada. There are no federal laws declaring online betting illegal here. Regulation is done by the regional and territorial government. This means that the regulation of all lotteries, online gambling and traditional gambling establishments is the responsibility of the local gambling control authorities. In essence, federal law in Canada shifts the responsibility for free gambling to the regional governments.
Canadian regional online gambling laws
As elsewhere in the world, local laws in certain areas of Canada restrict certain forms of gambling that are permitted by federal law. Let’s briefly describe some exceptions to Canada’s liberal position on gambling.
Ontario Gambling Act – Ontario has been a headache for online casinos for years. Most sites that accept bets from Canadians still do not cater to players from this province. The reason is probably because Ontario is trying to direct all gaming traffic to its own site with casino-style games, bingo and poker. Ontario remains an unresolved issue for gambling providers, so they try to avoid interacting with residents of the region.
City bans on gaming – Some cities in Canada have imposed their own citywide bans on online gambling. These are usually small towns in remote areas such as Markham, Ontario. If you live in Canada and want to make sure you can legally bet online, check your regional and city laws. Don’t count on your betting being legal just because gambling is generally legal in the country.
Popular forms of gambling in Canada
Online gambling is very popular in Canada. Since Canada is considered an advanced country in terms of technology, it becomes obvious that online versions of all games are available and popular among Canadians. Canadians are as active users of smartphones, tablets, computers and other gadgets as Americans, but unlike their neighbors to the south, they are not burdened by restrictive legislation. Canadian online gambling is an impressive industry, as are all the forms of gambling described below.
Canadians love to gamble at casinos. They are just as much fans of slot machines as Americans are. According to Statistics Canada, in the next year 65% of Canadians of legal gaming age (18 and older) will bet on slots or other table casino games. This number is comparable to the size of the market in the United Kingdom and Australia. There are now nearly a dozen traditional casinos in Canada, and about 250 more casino sites offering online blackjack, video poker and slots games.
Lotteries are also quite popular. A quarter of Canadians play the lottery weekly in one form or another. This makes Canadians some of the most avid lottery players in the world. Statistics Canada reports that the average Canadian male at least 18 years old spends $753 a year on the lottery alone.
Betting on sports is very popular, but not always legal in Canada. It is important to clarify here: Canadians are allowed government-regulated betting on several sports (parlays, teasers, etc.), but not single sports betting. This means that there are no legal bookmakers in the traditional sense. Nevertheless, the government estimates that Canadians bet $15 billion a year on single sporting events, so authorities are considering legalizing and regulating this field.
Betting is a significant part of Canadian culture. Horse racing and betting on races is the only form of gambling that is legal in all Canadian provinces and cities. It is very easy to find a racetrack with live racing in Canada, because they are everywhere. Some tracks are even allowed to host multiple video poker machines or slot machines. Such “racinos” replicate similar establishments in America; they are just as popular in Canada.
If you are familiar with the way the gambling industry works in the United States and Europe, the Canadian gambling industry will seem like a mixture of the two markets.
Canada has unique local sports, both professional and amateur. But in general, residents follow Western sporting events more.