Illegal Gaming Operators Still Capture Sizable Part of Ontario Market

Posted on: April 27, 2025, 07:15h. 

Last updated on: April 27, 2025, 07:18h.

Mark Keast Read More

Expertise: Canadian Gaming, iGaming, Las Vegas, Sports Betting, NFL, Boxing, UFC.

• IPSOS study released on Ontario market’s third anniversary shows slight increase in players using unregulated igaming sites
• Total wagers in province up 31% in FY24/25 compared to year previous
• What does AGCO do in terms of enforcement with unregulated operators?

In Canadian gaming news, an IPSOS study covering market channelization in Ontario’s three-year-old regulated igaming market showed illegal gambling sites still have a sizable hold on players in the province. 

Third Anniversary of Ontario Market

The new study, commissioned by Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario, found that 83.7% of Ontarians choose to play regulated sites.

For the IPSOS survey, 2,003 Ontarians over 19 were interviewed, including people who had gambled or wagered real money bets online in the previous three months.

In Ontario, private sector operators register with AGCO first and contract with iGaming Ontario to participate in the province’s legal gaming market. 

83.7% Choose Regulated Sites 

According to iGaming Ontario data today, there are 49 licensed operators and 84 gaming websites in the province. 

And there’s PROLINE, owned and operated by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, a crown corporation, competing with the private sector sites. 

OLG has three lines of business – lottery (retail), land-based gaming (the crown corporation conducts and manages gaming at 30 casino gaming facilities and 37 charitable gaming centres) and digital gaming (iCasino, iLottery and iSports). OLG does its own financial reporting. 

Wagers in Ontario Up 31%

Yes, it’s true that before Ontario’s market launch in April 2022, it was estimated that 70% of online gambling was occurring on unregulated sites.

But it’s also true that the number of people who had gambled online on a regulated site in 2024 was 86.4%, according to an IPSOS study marking the second anniversary of the regulated, competitive market.

So less people are moving over to regulated sites, according to the study released last week – 16.3% saying they wagered only on unregulated sites (up from 13.6% last year). And dig a little deeper on that IPSOS study from last week: Among the 83.7% who are using regulated sites, 20.2% have wagered on a combination of regulated and unregulated sites.

Market Channelization Competitive with Other Jurisdictions

Nothing too surprising in the results to me,” said Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns. “There’s a small drop in channelization but given the strong revenue numbers for the year it’s clear Ontarians prefer operators in the regulated marketplace.”

Those revenue numbers for the 2024-25 fiscal year were also released last week by iGaming Ontario – total wagers of CAD $82.7 billion, and CAD $3.2 billion in gross gaming revenue, increases of 31% and 32%, respectively, compared to 2023-24. In Ontario, 20% of online gambling revenues flow back to provincial government coffers.

“The third year Ontario iGaming Market Channelization Report is positive news that the vast majority of Ontario citizens who play online do so with a site that is regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario,” said Troy Ross, Principal at TRM Public Affairs.

Ross has been on the frontlines of the igaming lobby for 17 years, played a key role in several igaming milestones in the country (including the defeat of prohibitionist legislation in Ontario in 2006), and engages with provincial governments across Canada to educate the public sector on the benefits of regulated online gaming markets.

Hyper-Competitive Market

“While 84% channelization is a slight decline over the previous year, it remains competitive with global leading jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and Spain. 

The Canadian marketplace is hyper competitive, with many unregulated options available to the public,” he added. “Ontario will need to remain vigilant and keep cost of compliance reasonable so that operators can continue to offer entertainment choices that can compete with the illegal market. Taken together with the record-breaking third year financial results from iGO, this is another successful year for regulated iGaming in Canada.”

Still, that’s a lot of people gambling on illegal sites. Remember, Ontario no longer distinguishes between grey market and illegal/black market.

Increase in Players on Unregulated Sites

Grey market operators were unregulated but tolerated providers, licensed elsewhere, that operated legally in a pre-regulation grey area and were encouraged to join the regulated market. Black market operators, by contrast, operate illegally, often without licenses or intent to comply, and face legal repercussions now.

The AGCO set a deadline of Oct. 31, 2022, for grey market operators to become fully compliant or exit the market. Post-deadline, under the Gaming Control Act, AGCO can impose progressive sanctions from suspensions, monetary penalties, even place an operator’s eligibility to register for the regulated market in jeopardy.

Enforcement the Issue

As AGCO said in a statement last week: 

The data also underscores that a notable amount of gaming continues to occur on unregulated sites. Those players are therefore not safeguarded by Ontario’s high standards of game integrity and player protections. The AGCO continues its efforts to address illegal gambling sites in Ontario and to increase public awareness about the benefits of choosing regulated igaming sites.

This from a senior igaming industry source:

Channelization rates aren’t increasing much and even the release sent out by AGCO and iGO note there’s more work to do. Three years in, what is the plan to deal with black market operators who refused to get licensed? Ontario is a big market and given that new operators are still wanting to come in, how level is the playing field given more than 20% of Ontario’s players continue to access unlicensed websites?”

Illegal Market

Good question, and it became even more relevant the day IPSOS released their market channelization results last week. 

Boho Casino, not licensed in Ontario, but licensed by the Government Curacao, issued a news release the same day IPSOS released their study positioning themselves as legally serving “the rest of Canada under its international license”. 

Based in Toronto, Ontario, despite Ontario being regulated, we signed up for an account. Payment methods there include Interac, Visa, Mastercard, Skrl, Bitcoin, Ethereum.

In the statement, players were invited to sign up on their platform, playing up their “trustworthiness”, their positive user reviews, the fact there are licensed, their ”huge” game selection, their Canadian-friendly banking, fast payouts, “rich” bonuses and “top-notch” support and security.

How serious the AGCO is in terms of enforcement is the question then, as channelization numbers head in the wrong direction.

AGCO Statement on Unregulated Sites

This from an AGCO spokesperson on Friday after Casino.org reached out for comment: 

The AGCO is aware of these illegal ads/sites. While the AGCO does not have any jurisdiction over such illegal sites, our igaming Compliance Team monitors such activity,” the spokesperson told Casinor.org. “The AGCO is continuing to explore additional opportunities to further minimize unregulated online gaming activity in Ontario, including collaborating with various international gaming regulators to share best practices and find opportunities for coordinated activities.”