Methodology

A page about gambling rules is only as good as its sources, so most of our method is about choosing them and dating them. This page explains which sources we use, in what order, how we handle conflicts and what our pages do not do.

What we cover

For each province and territory: who regulates online gambling, which online sites are authorized and on what basis, the minimum age, where a player must be located, how self-exclusion works, where complaints go, and which official list shows authorized operators. For licences issued outside Canada, we cover what each licensing body publishes and how its licence relates to provincial authorization.

Where the facts come from

In order:

1. Statutes and regulations, such as section 207 of the Criminal Code, read on the federal government’s laws website.
2. Regulators and provincial agencies, such as the AGCO and iGaming Ontario in Ontario, AGLC and the Alberta iGaming Corporation in Alberta, the RACJ in Quebec and the Independent Gambling Control Office in British Columbia, including their registers, standards and player FAQs.
3. Provincial governments and Crown corporations, such as the Government of BC, OLG, BCLC, Loto-Québec and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.
4. Licensing bodies outside the provinces, for what they publish about their own licences and registers.
5. Law firms and consultants, only where no primary source exists or where they conflict with an official source, always named and labelled as their statement.
6. News reports, for events such as court decisions, labelled as reports.

Ontario is not Canada

Much of what is written about online casinos in Canada is really about Ontario, because Ontario’s market is the largest and its directory of regulated sites is the best known. Our guides name the province each rule belongs to. The AGCO’s standards bind Ontario operators, not operators elsewhere, and iGaming Ontario’s directory lists Ontario’s regulated sites, not Canada’s. A claim about the whole country is made only from the Criminal Code or from a check of every province.

When sources conflict

We show the conflict instead of choosing silently. If a consultant’s statement contradicts an official list, the page gives the official list, then the consultant’s statement with its source. If an official page is out of date, for example a home page that still describes the market before a launch, we say which page we rely on and why.

Dated, not timeless

Rules change: Alberta opened its market on July 13, 2026, and British Columbia’s regulator changed on April 13, 2026. Every fact carries the date it was checked, and each table row shows when it was last checked. Official lists, such as iGaming Ontario’s directory, also state their own dates, which we quote.

How we read

We read official pages directly, and some pages from Canadian connections where access differs. We do not rely on summaries of an official page when the page itself is available.

What “Not confirmed” means

Not confirmed means we could not find an official source for the fact on the date shown, for example the minimum gambling age in some Atlantic provinces. We do not fill such gaps with commercial guides; the page says what is missing.

What our pages do not do

They do not give legal advice or say how a law would apply to a particular person. They describe the official position and who is responsible for what. They do not rate casinos, and our regulatory guides do not name individual offshore brands.

Corrections

If an official source has changed, send the page address, the fact and a link to the current official page through our contact page. We check it, correct the page if needed and update its date. Our editorial policy covers how pages are written.