Sports Betting Canada Legal
- Legal Sports Betting Sites Canada
- Sports Betting Canada Legal Update
- Canada Legal Sports Betting
- Is Sports Betting Legal In Ontario
Yes, according to current gambling laws, all forms of online sports betting, including ice hockey betting, are legal. What are the most popular sports betting sites in Canada? At the moment, the international offshore sports betting sites are among the most popular in Canada.
Legal Sports Betting Sites Canada
- Legal residents of Quebec can wager on sports teams or individual athletes through a game known as Mise-O-Jeu. Players can wager on two to eight options, although all picks must be successful in order to receive a payout. Wagers can be made online or at participating locations such as convenience stores.
- If decriminalized, provinces and territories would be given the responsibility of regulating and licensing websites and in-person businesses that allow betting on single sports events. Right now, it’s only legal in Canada to place bets when multiple outcomes are paired together, which is known as a parlay.
Sports betting in Canada exists, but it’s not optimized – yet. A new effort to legalize single-game sports betting in 2021 is gaining momentum.
Right now, only parlay betting (multiple events on the same ticket) is an option through provincial lotteries.
This has led much of the sports betting market to migrate to illegal offshore sportsbooks. Of the C$14.5 billion bet on sports in Canada each year, just C$500 million of that is done legally through provincial lotteries, according to the Candian Gaming Association.
The future of sports betting in Canada
The latest attempt at legalizing single-game Canadian sports betting has legs. The movement started in early 2020 as a private member bill, C-218, sponsored by Kevin Waugh.
It was eventually picked up as government legislation in November 2020, which suggests the issue is close to settled.
Ending the federal ban on single-game betting should change the landscape of Canadian sports betting significantly. It would mean more opportunities for bettors to bet legally and could lead to provinces opening up licensing to other operators.
Sports Betting Canada Legal Update
When will online sports betting launch in Canada?
Online sports betting is already allowed in six provinces:
- British Columbia
- Nova Scotia
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
Of course, these legal products all require parlay bets of two or more events.
Canada Legal Sports Betting
It’s unclear at this point if additional provinces would authorize online sports betting.
There are other online options, but they aren’t regulated. Offshore sportsbooks take advantage of the fact that single-game betting is illegal in Canada and therefore serve the market for what bettors can’t get legally.
These offshore operators don’t pay taxes and aren’t regulated at the provincial or federal level. Sports bettors are making an additional gamble whenever they bet on these offshore sites as there’s no guarantee winning bets will be paid.
Some offshore sportsbook operators have closed their operations without warning and without returning customer funds.