Canada’s online gambling sector barely existed 10 years ago. Now it is a multi-billion dollar market. Through various province-backed operations and, crucially, the open market in Ontario, Canadians now wager billions of dollars a year. $9.5 billion across the entire market in 2025 (although that includes offshore operators also).
As well as the direct spend, taxes, employment and investment in and from the sector have made it a significant economic sector in 2026. When you think of online gambling, you might think of the massive headline revenue figures of sportsbooks and casinos. However, those revenues often go into supporting jobs across technology infrastructure, legal and compliance services, cyber security, marketing, and customer support. In fact it is estimated some 135,000 people are either directly or indirectly employed by the gambling business across Canada.
The Market is Now a Major Economic Force
From that $9.5 billion estimated national spend, around $2 billion comes from the regulated market of Ontario. A further $1 billion or so comes from provincial-backed operators, with the rest (more than 50% still) estimated to be at offshore operators.
This is part of the reason Ontario opened its regulated market in 2022, so it could tax and control the market. Alberta is set to follow suit very soon in July 2026, mostly for the same reasons.
Ontario has done very well with what it set out to do, as 86% of gamblers in the province now use regulated sites that are taxable and have more guaranteed consumer protections.
Predictions vary for Alberta’s launch and how successful it might be. It could bring another $1 billion into the regulated and taxable Canadian gambling economy and away from offshore sites, within the first full year. Ontario’s regulated market has been growing at around 10% a year since 2022.
In that time it has made over $2 billion in revenue sharing agreements alone. Let alone provincial and federal taxes, and the employment and investment gambling brings. Sure, not everyone is happy about expanded gambling. But it was happening anyway, and now at least the province is getting paid from it.
This Growth Fosters Employment in Tech, Marketing and Compliance
Outside of taxes, the gambling business in Canada also makes a significant contribution to the wider economy. It employs more than 100,000 people across a range of sectors and generates millions of dollars in investments and infrastructure.
The growth of regulated online gambling has also supported the growth of related industries and services. One example is the rise of comparison and review platforms that help consumers navigate trusted online casino options in Canada. Sites such as Casino.ca provide information for players looking to understand what the market offers, from bonus offers to game libraries and payment options, helping them make an informed choice when choosing where to play.
Another factor is incentives to localise these kinds of services. International gambling operators looking for an Ontario or Alberta license are encouraged to keep local staff or offices from before a license is even granted. Especially when it comes to regulation and compliance, which can cost hundreds of thousands before any bets are even placed.
Another good example is Canadian geolocation technology firm GeoComply. The Vancouver-based company went from small business to hundred million dollars a year operation mostly based on its work for big US sports betting firms, which it helped geofence services between states in the fragmented regulatory system.
This kind of backend tech service is something not many people consider when they think of online gambling operations. However, operators actually spend a significant portion of revenues on keeping the service updated to regulatory standards while maintaining a 24/7/365 uptime.
The Gambling Sector is a Driver of Payment and Fintech Growth
One of the biggest beneficiaries of this kind of spend is Canada’s fintech and digital payments markets. In gambling, fast multi-way transactions are key selling point. No casino gambler wants to wait days when they win before accessing their prize money, so customers often flock to those who can offer the fastest and most seamless payment systems.
Add to this the speed needed for live betting and in-play wagering across hundreds of different sports and casino markets at once and you can see why the gambling sector needs extremely fast and reliable back-end infrastructure.
It’s not just customer facing considerations though. Provincial regulations and compliance are an increasingly important part of financial tech, including fraud or problem gambling detection tools. Innovations in behavioural monitoring for gambling can be used in other sectors, and vice versa.
This can all also be seen as part of the wider trend of digitized entertainment. Where physical casino gambling in Ontario dominated the Canadian scene for years, online casinos have now flipped the tables on that model.
However, the move to online gambling and services is not without its challenges. Ontario may have changed tack and regulated its market successfully, but other provinces are sticking with a monopoly-supply provincial-backed model that simply does not do as well as taking players away from untaxable and locally unregulated offshore sites.
How the Canadian gambling market deals with this issue going into the rest of the 2020s will have significant implications for growth going forward.
