FulaTORONTO-Canada has been involved in the online gambling scene for three years now and counting, with the now legalized online gambling spreading into all provinces of Canada.
Canada has never regulated online gambling since its introduction in 1990 except for restricting gamble sites to be hosted within Canadian borders. Users of online gambling sites exchanged money online without issue, causing local governments to recognize the potential profits they were allowing to slip into other nations.
In 2010, Canada launched its first online, and regulated, gambling site PlayNow.com. The site was the first of the nation to include many forms of online gambling including casino games, the ability to bet on sporting events, and even bingo. After showing excellent results, other Canadian provinces following through with their own online gambling sites. Even through the success of their hosted online gambling sites, the Canadian government still does not regulate online gambling outside its borders, unlike many other countries.
Sometime in 2013 Ontario is expected to join the online gambling game. This will now give majority citizens of Canada access to locally regulated online gambling games. With details still hidden, it is expected that, by the end of 2013, residents of Ontario will have access to online lottery tickets, sports betting, and bingo games.
Many of the provinces of Canada have a networked connection between the online gaming servers. This allows players from all provinces to connect together in their online gambling, leaving any taxes or other regulations to be processed by the user’s province.
Even with the success of some province’s online gambling sites, this has yet to convince many of Canada’s provinces to join in on the online gambling trade. Many provinces such as Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador have announced they have no interest in operating their own online gambling site, or have stalled any efforts to do so. Canadian laws and regulations still allow citizens to gamble online in other provinces or even other countries, as there are still no regulations to where a Canadian be allowed to gamble.
There is no federal regulation of Canadian gambling as of 2013. All regulations still remain on a local government level.