Katrina Griffiths
Senior editor
Published on: September 10, 2026
Alberta vs Ontario: how Canada’s two open casino markets differ
Eight provinces and three territories run online gambling as a monopoly: one government site, no competition. Alberta and Ontario are exceptions. Both opened their markets to private operators using the same legal mechanism.
Those differences start at the age on the sign-up form and run through to what happens when a withdrawal goes missing.
The structure both provinces copied
Canada’s Criminal Code doesn’t let a private company run a lottery scheme on its own, and that phrase covers online casino games and sports betting. Only a province can conduct and manage gambling. A province that wants private operators therefore has to put a provincial body at the centre of the market and have every commercial site operate through it.
Ontario did it first. iGaming Ontario was set up alongside the province’s regulator and the market opened on 4 April 2022. Alberta followed with the iGaming Alberta Act in 2025, which created the Alberta iGaming Corporation as a Crown agent. The market opened on 13 July 2026, four years later. More on how the Alberta legislation is put together is on our legal framework page.
Who regulates what
In both provinces, the job is split in two: one body legally runs the market, and a regulator decides who gets in and polices them.
Ontario
- iGaming Ontario conducts and manages the market and signs the operating agreement with each site.
- The AGCO registers operators and enforces the standards.
- OLG, the government’s own gambling site, sits outside both. The regulator doesn’t run it.
Alberta
- The Alberta iGaming Corporation conducts and manages the market as a standalone Crown agent.
- AGLC registers operators, writes the Standards and Requirements for Internet Gaming, and enforces them.
- Play Alberta, the government’s site, is run by AGLC. So the regulator also operates a competitor.
The government site is the one structural difference worth knowing. It was raised while the Alberta legislation went through the legislature, and it doesn’t change the standards a private site has to meet. Ontario has no equivalent site run by the regulator.
The difference you notice first: 18 or 19
Alberta’s legal gambling age is 18. Ontario’s is 19. The age is checked against the province you’re in, not the one on your ID, so the same player can be eligible in one market and not the other.
So, an 18-year-old in Calgary can hold a legal account at home and cannot open one on a trip to Toronto. It’s a common problem, and people often get it wrong when they read a Canadian casino guide that treats the country as one market.
Self-exclusion works differently in each
Both provinces run a central self-exclusion registry rather than leaving it to each site, and each registry is a separate system.
In Alberta, AGLC runs the self-exclusion program. You register once and choose your term and your scope: online sites, land-based venues, or both. We walk through it in our guide to self-exclusion in Alberta.
In Ontario, the equivalent is BetGuard. One registration removes your access to every gambling site licensed in the province for a term you choose.
Each registry is limited to the province, and it does nothing at all about offshore sites, which sit outside both systems.
What the sites are allowed to say to you
Both regulators have taken the same line on advertising. Public advertising that communicates bonuses, credits or other inducements is off the table in both provinces. Those offers can appear on an operator’s own site or go to someone who has given express consent to receive them, and nowhere else.
Alberta’s standards were finalized in June 2026 and came into force with the July launch. Affiliates and referral partners are explicitly in scope, which is why a compliant Alberta page explains how a wagering requirement works and never publishes what any site is offering this week.
When something goes wrong
The path is the same shape in both provinces, and so is the limit at the end of it:
- Complain to the operator first, in writing, and keep the reference number.
- If you think the rules were broken, escalate to the regulator: AGLC in Alberta, the AGCO in Ontario.
- Expect an investigation, not a refund. Neither regulator can order a site to pay you.
That third step surprises people in both markets. A regulator can penalize an operator, suspend its registration or fine it, and none of that puts money back in your account. Our guide to disputes with a licensed Alberta casino covers what to do next.
If you move or travel between them
An account is tied to the province that licensed it. Cross the border, and geolocation will stop you playing, even though both provinces are open markets and the operator may hold a registration in each. In practice, you close one account and open another, and your balance doesn’t travel with you.
Loyalty history, verification status and any limits you’ve set don’t carry over either. If you’ve set a deposit limit you rely on, set it again on day one of the new account, not after the first session.
The bottom line
Two provinces, one legal blueprint, and a handful of differences that matter in practice:
- Age: 18 in Alberta, 19 in Ontario.
- Regulator: AGLC in Alberta, the AGCO in Ontario. AGLC also runs the government’s own site.
- Self-exclusion: separate registries, neither one crossing the provincial line.
- Advertising: effectively the same rules, with affiliates in scope in both.
- Complaints: operator first, regulator second, and no refund power at either end.
For how Alberta compares with the provinces that never opened at all, see our post on Alberta’s rules against the rest of Canada, or read what changed when Alberta opened its market.
You must be 18 or older to gamble online in Alberta. If gambling is causing problems for you or someone you know, the Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline is free and confidential at 1-866-332-2322, and GameSense has tools and information on keeping play in check.
