Canadian Gaming

Canadian Lottery Coalition Pushes for Crackdown on Prediction Markets

Posted on: September 7, 2026, 09:36h.

Last updated on: September 8, 2026, 07:07h.

Written by

Mark Keast Mark is a long-time, seasoned journalist, as a writer and editor, working for several Toronto daily newspapers, then moving over to the digital arena, covering both sports and business. Over the past few years he moved over to the gaming arena, specifically covering the igaming industry in Canada for several platforms, as well as writing on sports betting.

Key Points

The CLC is lobbying provincial officials for tighter controls before prediction markets expand across Canada
Canadian regulators say sports and entertainment event contracts fall outside securities and derivatives legislation
The coalition argues prediction markets resemble gambling and divert revenue away from Canadian public services

The Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC) is calling for even tighter controls on prediction markets after financial regulators said last week (Aug. 27) that sports event contracts should not be treated as securities.

Financial regulators in Canada last week put controls on event contract trading around sports and entertainment like those found on U.S.-based prediction market platform like Polymarket. (Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC)—an alliance of provincial lottery operators including Atlantic Lottery, Loto-Québec, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation—is stepping up pressure on regulators to halt the expansion of prediction markets across the country.

“We appreciate the further clarity, but I just feel like it’s too far to say that it’s a line in the sand,” CLC Executive Director Molly Cormier told The Globe and Mail, adding that the coalition has officially registered to lobby provincial officials. “The time to act is now before they expand further in Canada.”

Regulators Draw Legal Boundary

The coalition’s lobbying blitz follows a shift by financial regulators to permit limited event-contract trading.

In March, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO)—the national self-regulatory body governing investment and mutual fund dealers—authorized fintech platform Wealthsimple to offer prediction contracts tied to economic indicators, financial markets, and climate data.

Interactive Brokers Canada Inc. remains the only other CIRO dealer with similar approval.

However, Canadian regulators are drawing a hard line against sports and entertainment wagering.

On Aug. 27, CIRO and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued a joint guidance explicitly rejecting the U.S. prediction market model, where platforms like Polymarket and Novig operate under Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) federal oversight.

“It is important for investors and market participants to understand that event contracts based on sports- and entertainment-related activities or outcomes should not be regulated within securities and derivatives legislation,” said Stan Magidson, CSA chair and head of the Alberta Securities Commission.

Public Revenue Concerns Emerge

The CLC maintains that any event contracts allowing users to wager on real-world outcomes are functionally gambling and must be regulated as such under provincial gaming frameworks.

Crucially, the coalition highlights a fiscal divide: while revenue generated by provincial Crown corporations funds healthcare, education, amateur sports, and community programs, profits from private prediction markets flow entirely into corporate hands.

Mark is a long-time, seasoned journalist, as a writer and editor, working for several Toronto daily newspapers, then moving over to the digital arena, covering both sports and business. Over the past few years he moved over to the gaming arena, specifically covering the igaming industry in Canada for several platforms, as well as writing on sports betting.