Ontario Drives Ban on Access to Offshore Casinos

Ontario has a fully regulated gambling market within the broader Canadian gambling landscape. While not unique, it is the first and only province to extend online gambling to private operators under a regulated framework. 

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is the regulatory authority overseeing the registration and regulation of online gambling sites, ensuring standards are in place to protect players and maintain the integrity of the industry.  

The province’s iGaming market includes 49 licensed operators and 83 gaming websites as of May 2025, and saw $63.3 billion in total wagers in the fiscal year 2023-2024, generating $2.4 billion in gaming revenue from a pool of over 2.1 million active player accounts.

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  Media Platforms to Cease Advertising Unlicensed Operators 

AGCO says on its website that it has reached out to dozens of traditional and digital media platforms, asking these companies to “desist” from advertising websites that do not hold a license in the province but are attempting to target Ontarians. 

This forms part of the watchdog’s broader strategy to curtail the access of unlicensed offshore gambling websites that were previously allowed in the absence of a regulated gambling market. However, they are no longer welcome as the majority of operators have, in fact, chosen to obtain the requisite license and operate as legal entities. 

AGCO’s chief concern is that some of these unlicensed operators may attempt to engage customers by flooding various media channels to lure or convert players interested in online casino entertainment or sports betting to visit their platforms. 

Committed to a Safe Gaming Experience

Dr Karin Schnarr, CEO and Registrar at the AGCO, stated that the regulated iGaming market is already up and running online and should be the only option for Ontarians. 

A specific mention was made of Bodog, a company that the AGCO insists is breaching the Gaming Control Act, 1992. In clarifying her stance that such operators were a bad influence, she went on to add:

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The AGCO is committed to protecting Ontario players and ensuring they have the safest experience by playing on regulated igaming sites.  By refusing to carry advertising from unregulated and high-risk operators, media organisations can exemplify social responsibility and play an important role in protecting Ontarians and supporting Ontario’s regulated market.

Although the regulator stood by its accusations that Bodog was still targeting players in Ontario through advertising and allowing players to register, it acknowledged that this was no longer a widespread practice by the company, as they had taken steps to restrict and eliminate player access in Nova Scotia and Quebec, which AGCO now urged them to do in Ontario. 

 Onus on Advertisers to Only Promote Legal Sites

AGCO has placed the onus on advertisers to ensure they are not promoting unregulated websites, but added that since full market regulation became a reality in 2022, operators have likewise been required to “comply with strict rules of conduct and stick to clear-cut player protection guardrails.” which would not be the case with an offshore brand that may not be beholden to AGCO’s statutes.