Is sports betting legal in Canada? The rules in every province

From parlays to single games

For decades, the Criminal Code banned betting on “a single sport event or athletic contest”, so provincial lotteries such as Proline could only sell parlays of several games. The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, which received Royal Assent on June 29, 2021, removed that ban, and single-event betting became legal on August 27, 2021. Bookmaking on horse races remains excluded, because pari-mutuel horse betting is regulated federally.

The Criminal Code still leaves gambling to the provinces: each one conducts and manages betting itself, or licenses others to. So whether a sportsbook is legal depends on where you are when you bet.

Province by province

You must be physically in the province every time you bet; regulated sites check your location.

Ontario: the biggest market

Ontario licenses private sportsbooks through two bodies: the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) registers operators and sets the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming, and iGaming Ontario conducts and manages the market through operating agreements. On September 1, 2026, 49 operators ran 84 regulated sites. In 2025–26, Ontarians wagered $12.1 billion in cash on sports and other betting there, and operators kept 6.81% of it, according to iGaming Ontario.

The AGCO’s rules shape what you see:

• No bonus advertising outside the sportsbook’s own site and direct marketing to players who’ve opted in (Standard 2.05).
• No athletes in ads since February 28, 2024, except to promote responsible gambling.
• Integrity rules: esports and other events are allowed only if they meet the AGCO’s standards, and the regulator can halt betting on a sport; it stopped UFC betting market-wide from December 2022 to January 2023.
• BetGuard, iGaming Ontario’s central self-exclusion, covers every regulated site.

The AGCO also enforces: it has fined FanDuel ($350,000 in 2026), theScore ($105,000 in 2025 and $200,000 in 2026), BetMGM and DraftKings. See our ranking of the best sports betting sites in Canada for how the main books compare.

Alberta: open since July 2026

Alberta’s private market opened on July 13, 2026, under the iGaming Alberta Act. Sportsbooks must register with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) and sign an agreement with the Alberta iGaming Corporation, which approved 22 sites at launch and listed 51 on October 22, 2026. bet365, FanDuel, theScore Bet and Sports Interaction all operate there; Pinnacle doesn’t. PlayAlberta, run for AGLC, continues alongside them.

The other provinces

Outside Ontario and Alberta, the provincial site is the only legal way to bet online:

• British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan: PlayNow’s sportsbook. Its iOS apps are rated between 1.7 and 2.6 out of 5 on Canada’s App Store.
• Quebec: Loto-Québec’s Mise-o-jeu, with its Mise-o-jeu+ app.
• Atlantic provinces: Atlantic Lottery.

Offshore sportsbooks

Sites licensed in Kahnawake, Curaçao, Malta or elsewhere aren’t licensed by any province. Provinces are fighting them in court: in May 2025, Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench permanently barred Bodog from operating or advertising in Manitoba, finding that its taking bets there violated the Criminal Code. If an offshore book voids your bet or won’t pay, there’s no Canadian regulator to take it to.

Check any sportsbook with our sportsbook licence check, and see how gambling winnings are taxed in Canada.