Provincial Online Casino Frameworks

Online casino gambling in Canada is regulated province by province, so the answer to “is it legal?” depends on where you are. The Criminal Code lets each provincial government conduct and manage gaming under its own law, and the provinces have used that in two ways. Ontario and Alberta register private operators alongside a government site: iGaming Ontario’s directory listed 49 operators and 84 websites, accurate as of September 1, 2026, and Alberta’s market opened on July 13, 2026. Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan offer online casino games through a provincial or government-run site, and Atlantic Lottery serves New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. The minimum age is 18 or 19 depending on the province.

What this section covers, and why

Rules for one province are often quoted as if they applied to all of Canada, most often Ontario’s. This section keeps them apart. For each province we record who regulates online gambling, which sites are authorized, who may play and from where, and the date we checked, using the province’s own official pages and the federal statute. We do not give legal advice; we report who is responsible for what.

What does federal law say?

Section 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code makes it lawful for the government of a province, alone or with another province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province under provincial law. Section 207(4)(c) excludes games played on a computer, video device, slot machine or dice game from the charitable and licensed schemes in the other paragraphs, which leaves online casino games to the provinces themselves. Section 207(3) makes it an offence to do anything for a lottery scheme that is not authorized under the section.

How do the provinces compare?

• Ontario. Private operators registered by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario with an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario, plus OLG.ca, run by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Age 19, physically in Ontario.
• Alberta. Since July 13, 2026, private operators registered with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis and contracted with the Alberta iGaming Corporation, plus Play Alberta. Age 18, physically in Alberta.
• Quebec. Loto-Québec states that its site is the only 100% legal and local casino and sports betting site in Québec. Age 18.
• British Columbia. The Government of BC says PlayNow.com, run by BCLC, is the only legal online gambling site in the province, and sets the age at 19. The Independent Gambling Control Office has regulated all gambling in BC since April 13, 2026.
• Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Each offers PlayNow under its own operator, on BCLC’s platform: Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries for residents of the age of majority, and SaskGaming and the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority for players 19 and older.
• Atlantic provinces. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador says online gaming is available through Atlantic Lottery, the only regulated provider in the region, after New Brunswick in 2020 and Nova Scotia in 2022.

The guides in this section

• Is online casino gambling legal in Ontario? What the AGCO, iGaming Ontario and OLG each do, what makes a site part of the regulated market, who can play, and where disputes go.
• Alberta after the July 2026 launch. What changed on July 13, 2026, the roles of AGLC, the Alberta iGaming Corporation and Play Alberta, which sites are registered, and what operators must provide.
• Quebec online casino rules. Loto-Québec’s online casino, what the RACJ licenses, what Kahnawà:ke and other licences cover, and what the Criminal Code says about players.
• British Columbia online casino rules. PlayNow.com and BCLC, the IGCO, payments and help, and why an offshore licence is not a BC authorization.
• Province-by-province reference. All 10 provinces and 3 territories in one table: regulator, government site, private operators, minimum age and official list.

How we checked

We read the Criminal Code’s section 207 and each province’s official pages: iGaming Ontario and the AGCO, AGLC and the Alberta iGaming Corporation, Loto-Québec and the RACJ, the Government of BC, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries and the LGCA, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, on October 19 and 20, 2026. Where an official page was out of date or conflicted with another, the guide says so.

What we could not confirm

• The minimum gambling age in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and the three territories: we found no official page stating it.
• Whether Prince Edward Island currently offers online casino games through Atlantic Lottery.
• An online casino run by any of the territories: we found none.

Check your own province

Find your province in the list above and open its official source: iGaming Ontario’s directory, the Alberta iGaming Corporation’s list of registered sites, lotoquebec.com, PlayNow.com, or your province’s lottery corporation. A site that is not on your province’s own list is not authorized there, whatever licence it shows. For what foreign licences mean, see our page on Curaçao, Anjouan and Tobique licences, and for age and self-exclusion rules, our section on player eligibility and self-exclusion.