The day has finally arrived for Ontario’s new and regulated iGaming market to open (Monday 4th April 2022).
This is the culmination of three years of legal process that brings an end to the monopoly enjoyed by the government-run lottery operator, OLG, on all online gambling in the province.
New legislation from the national government in 2020 and the legalisation of single event sports betting in 2023 have been the catalyst for introducing a legal framework within which the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and its subsidiary, iGaming Ontario, can issue licenses to private operators to take bets in the province.
No doubt the Ontario government has also been looking with envy at the success of such frameworks in the US, and in particular in New York recently. There is also the financial imperative of the havoc caused to the economy by two years of a COVID-19 restrictions.
Since it was announced back in January that the live date for Ontario’s new market was the 4th April we have seen some heavyweight operators granted licenses for casino and sportsbook.
The list includes 888 Holdings, Fan Duel, Bet365, PointsBet, White Hat Gaming, Unibet and Leo Vegas with many more expected to follow in the coming weeks and months. Game suppliers who have been granted a license already include High5Games and Play n Go.
For casino players in Ontario it is important to know that you should only play at licensed sites from here on. At The Casino Heat we will only be listing casinos with an Ontario license for those players who are viewing our site from Ontario.
There are some operators who are still in the process of securing their licenses. They will not be able to take bets from Ontario gamblers in the meantime. The AGCO has made it very clear that any operator who does take bets whilst waiting for their license to be approved is jeopardising the process.
The AGCO has also made it clear that like other regulators, they will not tolerate the black market casinos that continue to take bets from customers even without a license, saying they will take “strong action to address any remaining unregulated Ontario market activity in partnership with law enforcement”.
WHO IS LIVE AND TAKING BETS IN ONTARIO TODAY?
So, with that in mind, where can Ontarians legally gamble from 4th April 2022. The list of casinos is fairly limited right now but includes Fan Duel and Points Bet. More are expected to launch on Monday 25th April – in three weeks time.
Of course, for those reading this from the rest of Canada, it remains business as usual and there are many other more real money casinos for you to choose from, all listed on our website.
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