Next month will mark the fourth anniversary of go-live for online sports betting and casino in Ontario. It remains the only Canadian province to offer an open, competitive market since parliament decriminalized single-event sports betting in August 2021.
But Tuesday, interim CEO of the new Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC) Dan Reeve told Gaming News Canada podcast host Steve McAllister he expects his agency to launch operators in “spring/summer.” That would be in time for the kickoff of the 2026 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The first game in Canada is set for June 12 in Toronto, with others in Vancouver. None will be played in Alberta, where Calgary is the biggest city.
“We started off talking about momentum … with AiGC standards being published, registrations are starting, and the regulations coming out, Steve, look, I’d say don’t wait,” Reeve said. “We’re targeting a spring/summer launch and there’s just tremendous momentum that’s happening.”
In addition, late last week, a single line item in the provincial budget proposal showed projections that the the province could reap more than CAD $100 million per year in online gambling taxes. That number is projected to be lower for launch year.
For comparison, Ontario brought in about CAD $800 million in gaming tax revenue in Fiscal Year 2024-25, and Alberta’s population is about one-third of Ontario’s.
AiGC will work in tandem with Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis (AGLC), which in January released a series of documents containing guidelines for operators who want to offer platforms in the province. The AiGC will liaise with sports betting and online gambling operators, and the AGLC will be the regulator. When operators launch, they will be taxed at 20% and will be beholden to stringent consumer protection and responsible gambling guidelines.
Signups started
Consumers in Alberta already have one option for wagering — PlayAlberta, the platform run by the provincial lottery. Most Canadian provinces have a similar setup, and the platform will remain once the market opens.
So far, at least two regional operators have begun signing up consumers.
TheScore Bet announced last Friday that it is open for pre-registration and will launch as soon as it is approved, but did not indicate when that might be. Rush Street Interactive (RSI) said it was taking preregistrations on its BetRivers platform Feb. 6. RSI CEO Richard Schwartz called Alberta “a significant opportunity for us to leverage our success in other North American online casino markets, particularly given our strong performance in Ontario” on the company’s earnings call last month.
While Alberta’s regulators aren’t sharing much information, an Alberta launch has been a key discussion point among gambling operators for months. In the last several weeks, that discussion has begun to reach critical mass, as many companies addressed the launch in earnings calls.
Taking a page out of Ontario’s book
As Canada’s second province to market, Alberta officials have been open that Ontario’s experience has informed theirs. Reeve pointed to the AGLC’s advertising and consumer protections as being similar to — and as stringent as — those in Ontario, where the regulator has tightened standards since launch.
In addition, Alberta will become the second Canadian province to bring unregulated platforms into the regulated market. In the U.S., such operations don’t generally have the opportunity to move from the black or gray market into the regulated one, but in Canada, so far, provinces have allowed and encouraged such movement without penalty.
“These companies are not new to Albertans and are not new to Alberta, but they will be channelized to a regulated marketplace which has parameters and securities and regulations that have been built with industry and from an Alberta perspective,” Reeve said.
