In April 2019, the Canadian province of Ontario announced its intention to open up the iGaming market to private operators, thereby ending the long standing monopoly on igaming by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
The legislation to implement these plans was introduced and passed in 2021 and the province is now set to open its legal igaming market on April 4, 2022, with the iGaming Ontario (iGO) which is the subsidiary of Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) overseeing the market.
In September last year, AGCO released its final igaming sports and event betting regulatory standards, which included changes to advertising standards and integrity rules. In July 14 2021, the rules/standards were integrated into AGCO’s existing Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming and these rules/standards will now come into effect on April 4
From April 4, private gaming operators that have registered with the AGCO and have obtained an operating agreement with iGO can start offering their games to players in Ontario.
According to Martha Otton, who is the Executive Director of IGO, Players can play with confidence as every measure to ensure operator integrity and fairness and equally player protection and social responsibility has been put in place.
Penn National Gaming, having secured the Responsible Gambling Check iGaming Accreditation, from the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) ahead of the market opening in April, is geared to launch its igaming and sportsbetting outfit; TheScore Bet, into the Ontario province market after announcing that it has received approval from AGCO to be a licensed internet gaming operator. AGCO has also approved PointsBet Canada, for an online sportsbook license in Ontario.
