Will Other Canadian Gaming Jurisdictions Partner with the AGCO?
Posted on: September 22, 2025, 08:02h.
Last updated on: September 22, 2025, 08:02h.
- Exact date of Alberta igaming launch not known
- Which Canadian provincial jurisdictions will follow Alberta?
- Will other jurisdictions partner with Ontario’s AGCO for a faster igaming market launch?
As summer turns into fall, storylines on the Canadian igaming start to take shape. The launch of a new, Ontario-style, open regulated market in Alberta where prominent operators like FanDuel, Bet365, DraftKings, PointsBet Canada and theScore Bet look to hop in with both feet is at the top of most people’s priority list.
Alberta Market Launch in 2026
The exact timing of that launch is anyone’s guess. At the Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto in June, Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, told the audience that the province couldn’t yet offer up an exact launch date but that it would be “early next year.”
When Casino.org reached Canadian Gaming Association President and CEO Paul Burns today and asked him if he heard about an exact date, Burns said he hadn’t heard anything new.
Exact Timing is Anyone’s Guess
“The province is continuing to do their work,” Burns said. “There are a few stages they need to work through, and there are no timelines to those stages. We are assisting them as best we can. We want them to get it right. As time ticks on regulatory standards will be shared, but we have to get more into the process to get a better idea of what timing is.”
So, nobody knows for sure, outside of the Alberta cabinet, probably. Like in Ontario, with the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, operating PROLINE, Alberta has Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC). The AGLC operates the province’s Play Alberta digital casino and sports betting platform.
Ontario has its own regulator – the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Alberta is going to have its own regulator when its new regulatory regime is launched – Alberta iGaming Corporation, a new government agency established under Bill 48 (the iGaming Alberta Act).
Piece of the Action
But what about other Canadian provinces? One senior industry source raised an interesting scenario – instead of creating their own regulator, other provinces, seeing the revenue that Ontario’s igaming market is generating for government coffers via fees and taxes, would potentially want to fast-track their own launch by tying their wagon to the AGCO.
The Ontario model, which went live in April 2022, by anyone’s standards, has been a success.
In age of revenue uncertainties due in large part to U.S. trade tariffs, and no sign of that abating, Ministers of Finance in other Canadian provinces are no doubt looking at the Ontario igaming model, saying we want a piece of that action.
Adopting the Ontario Gaming Model
The industry source told Casino.org that it wouldn’t surprise him if in the next few months we started to see memorandums of understanding between other provinces and Ontario where those other jurisdictions hop on the AGCO coattails and launch their other markets with the AGCO as the regulator.
Ontario currently has 50 licensed operators doing business in the regulated market, and in July showed a 4% month-over-month increase in total wagers (CA $7.56 billion). Ontario currently taxes igaming and sports betting operators at a rate of 20%.
20% Tax Rate
“Now that they’ve got a case study in Ontario, it’s like there’s gold in those hills, and we might as well go get some … let’s just cut and paste Ontario or do some kind of a business arrangement with Ontario,” the source said. “So we’ll have a harmonized standard. The AGCO could be the regulator [in the other jurisdiction]. [iGaming Ontario] could have a satellite office in the other province so that they could be the operator in that jurisdiction.
“There are simple solutions to have people opt in on the Ontario system, that’s a win for the industry, a win for both Ontario and whatever other province, and a win for citizens there, because then they’ve got a regulated system, and they’re collecting some tax revenue.”
It’s a scenario that Burns sees as a real possibility, as opposed to the other jurisdiction setting up its own regulator.
Political Will and Courage?
“It’s entirely possible,” he told Casino.org. “It really only takes will and courage on behalf of the provinces. But it also comes down to practicality, especially for smaller provinces. Regulated gaming is different in every province. So we start with the ability to look at igaming models, what would work for that jurisdiction, and how to regulate or oversee it. But we do need harmonized regulations and technical standards in Canada, making it easier to do business across the country.”
A harmonization of the market would allow small market jurisdictions that have like standards to access products and innovation and equipment. It would allow regulatory best practices to be shared across the country. It’s the evolution of where the industry is going, Burns added.
Finding Common Ground
“Are Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island each going to set up a regulator for igaming [like in Ontario and soon, Alberta]?” he said. “They didn’t do it for lottery, so why would they?
“But each province has gaming regulators, so could they go and look to another province to provide that service for them? I think that’s part of what the conversation has moved to in Canada, considering this trade war and provinces trying to break down barriers. Finding common ground is now part of the conversation and must be part of the conversation.”
Gold in Those Hills
There’s a model in the gaming industry you can point to – GLI doing independent laboratory testing for game technology. GLI has a universal standard for sports betting and igaming product testing and certification.
Maybe a provincial government says, let’s use the regulatory structure of another government to help us out. Is there political will to do it?
“I think the time’s never been better to have these discussions,” said Burns. “I think it’s a very real possibility. It should be considered. Why couldn’t this level of regulatory compliance extend to another government? It’s not for every province, but it could be for some.”
Giving Smaller Provinces Access to Market
PlayNow out west is another case study – owned and operated by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, with Manitoba and Saskatchewan buying a commercial service from BCLC, accessing PlayNow to provide regulated igaming for their jurisdiction.
“This isn’t far-out thinking,” he said. “I don’t see why all of these things shouldn’t be on the menu with governments. We’re going to help put it there, because we would like to see regulatory harmonization, make it easier to do business in this country and provide better choices for these smaller market jurisdictions to access this regulated product and have a regulated environment. The concept is worth an evaluation.”
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