Read More About Ontario Gambling
On this page, you can read all about online gambling in Ontario:
Bojoko helps you understand how online gambling works in Ontario. Ontario is by far the biggest province in Canada with slightly different regulation what comes to online gambling.
In this article, we teach you how gambling in Ontario works, what forms of gambling are legal, how to access the online gambling sites and casinos, and what you need to keep an eye out for.
Here is a list of Ontario-licensed and certified online casinos. You can add your own filters to find the right casino for you.
| Launch date | 01/1997 |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | C$10 |
| Game suppliers | 14 |
| Banking methods | Mastercard + 11 |
| Bojoko rating | 4.3 |
888 Casino is a brand that is known globally. Since launching in the late 1990’s, 888 Casino has been going from strength to strength. Being one of the oldest online gambling... 888 casino review »
| Launch date | 09/2001 |
|---|---|
| Minimum deposit | C$10 |
| Game suppliers | 17 |
| Banking methods | Mastercard + 9 |
| Bojoko rating | 4 |
Pokerstars is a household name when it comes to online poker. They have the largest poker service in the world ranging from beginner-friendly tables to world championship tourna... Pokerstars casino review »
On this page, you can read all about online gambling in Ontario:
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Here, you will find:
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Online gambling in Ontario was free and uncontrolled, especially if you were an offshore casino operating from outside of Canada. All this changed in April of 2022, when Ontario gambling legislation changed and licence from Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario became mandatory.
This change in gambling laws came with a lot of requirements, which caused some casinos to simply block access from Ontario residents. Some, on the other hand, got licensed and complied with the new rules.
The biggest takeaway is still this, online gambling in Ontario is legal. From a player's point of view, you may have less options, but you can still gamble legally on online casinos that have been licensed by AGCO.
Ontario gambling laws for both land-based and online casinos are all related to people who are physically located within the borders of the province.
It doesn't matter if you live in Ontario or not, it only matters that you are physically located there. This also means that if you are an Ontario resident and you leave the province even temporarily, you follow the gambling laws of the place that you are at that point.
As the gambling laws in Ontario got stricter, all casinos must now have a valid licence from AGCO. This was previously true for land-based, but now online casinos must also acquire the licence.
In order to provide online gambling services in Ontario, casinos must first be reigstered with AGCO and then enter into an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. These both provide players with additional levels of safety and make sure that the operators are capable of delivering an adequate and trustworthy service.
Some casinos have chosen a different route. They have created themself a separate online casino Ontario, which only caters to players inside the province. They often have different games and features to comply with the Ontario agreements and licences.
In addition to casinos, also the game developers need a licence. Supplier licensing is generally easier, but has strict requirements for fair play and accountability.
To make it easier for players to know which casinos are licensed and which aren't, you can look for the iGaming Ontario logo. This logo tells you that the casino in question has completed the registration process and meets the high standards.
The legal age for gambling in Ontario is 19. If you are at least 19 years old, you can play at any casino, be it online or land-based.
Even if certain online casinos would operate in regions where the legal age for gambling is less than this, you still, as an Ontario resident, can't gamble until you are 19.
AGCO is very strict about casino advertising. All terms and requirements must be clearly visible, players can't be mislead in any way and responsible gambling message must be included.
One of the important parts of the truthful advertising requirements is that free must mean free. If a casino offers you free spins or free bonus money, it must truly be free.
Taxes are something no one wants to think about when they are having fun gambling, but it is something you should know about. You don't want to get a nasty surprise later down the line when you've had some fun playing on an online casino six months earlier.
If you are just a casual player who enjoys a little bit of gambling once every blue moon, then you have nothing to worry about. You are not taxed on your gambling winnings and get to keep everything.
If, on the other hand, you play more and are good at it, then you might want to keep reading. There is a possibility that you might need to pay income taxes from gambling.
There is one point you need to consider, and that is your relation to gambling. Are you a hobbyist who plays occasionally or a professional whose main income is from gambling?
Professional gambler whose livelihood is dependent on gambling needs to pay income tax. In practice, this means that if you are a poker pro or something along those lines, then you need to pay taxes on your gambling winnings.
It doesn't really matter how much you win as long as those wins are the foundation of your personal economy. Even if you win a large jackpot from playing occasionally, it is considered a windfall, and there is no need to pay taxes.
These rules are common to the entire Canada, and there is no separate Ontario gambling tax laws in place.
Gambling should be always viewed as a form of entertainment. Never play with anything you can't afford to lose and never chase losses.
If you, or anyone you know, have problems gambling, there are help services in both Canada and Ontario in specific that can help you. ConnexOntario is open 24/7 and available in 170 languages. CAMH, Gambling Therapy and GamTalk are also great places for help.
There is some regulation in Ontario on what casinos need to do when it comes to responsible gambling. The bare minimum is that gambling operators need to provide their players with spending and time limit tools, and an ability to take short term breaks and self-exclude.
If you ever feel like an Ontario casino is operating unfairly or doing something illegal, you can leave general complaints or disputes with specific iGaming sites to iGaming Ontario.
List of Ontario casinos