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Record Highs for Canada's Top iGaming Province
By Shane Addinall Jan 28, 2024 IndustryThe iGaming market in Canada continues to grow in popularity, with stats showing impressive growth in participation during Q3 of the fiscal year, with online casino gaming leading the charge.The gaming industry continues to expand into more regions, unlocking the doors of quality gaming to players worldwide.
Online gambling in Canada had a very rewarding year, per iGaming Ontario’s 3rd quarter reports. According to the iGO, the stats reveal that record highs have been reached in the acquisition and retention of online casino players.
The Best Quarter for Canadian Casinos
The Ontario gaming market launched in 2022. Since then, they’ve seen impressive growth and participation. The latest stats show that iGaming Ontario had its best results in the third quarter of the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
The iGO has revealed that from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023, Canadian casinos experienced a record high in terms of wagers, revenue, and active accounts.
According to the stats, around CAD$17.2 billion in wagers were spread across 72 gaming websites from 49 operators in the third quarter. This led to a 21% increase from the second quarter, which ended with CAD$14.2 billion in wagers.
In terms of gaming revenue, the region also saw a 22% improvement from the second quarter ($540 million), ending with $658 million in revenue. This total includes all the stake and tournament fees and the deduction of player winnings. It does not include operator costs and other liabilities.
During the third quarter, there were around 1.2 million active player accounts, a rapid increase from the 943,000 active players in the second quarter. On average, players spent about $186 monthly, a slight decrease from the $191 spent per player in the second quarter.
The data does not include any Ontario Lottery and Gaming figures. The latter is considered one of the largest operators in the province.
Most Popular Casino Games
According to the statistics, players participated in gaming activity across the different platforms; however, casino games came out on top, with betting and peer-to-peer poker hot on its heels.
The top casino games include Online Slots, live casino titles, table games and peer-to-peer bingo. These gaming verticals brought in around $13.7 billion in wagers. It comprised 79% of the Q3 wagers and brought in $471 million in revenue.
The betting vertical included exchange betting, sports, esports, proposition, and novelty bets. This vertical brought in $3.1 billion in wagers, forming 18% of the Q3 total wagers. Betting brought in $171 million in revenue.
Peer-to-peer poker was responsible for 2.5% of the total Q3 wagers, bringing in $431 million in wagers and $17 million in revenue.
A Glance at the Future
Canadian casinos have a flourishing future. iGaming Ontario is set on improving player protection by creating a centralised self-exclusion that will enable players to self-exclude from all gaming operators within the Canadian province. The idea would be to allow for a single registration that excludes them from all operators.
It is expected that proposals for the centralised self-exclusion solution will be requested via the regulator soon. Aside from the focus on player safety, new games and innovations also offer plenty of exciting opportunities.
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