Online gambling is one of the least uniformly regulated industries in the world. There are countries where it is completely outlawed, and there are others where it is completely regulated.
There are, in turn, some countries where the laws regarding the industry are controversial at best. Among them, the US, where individual states have to decide whether to allow or ban it, Australia, where online sports betting and land-based casinos are OK, but online casinos are not, New Zealand, where all slot machines have to be operated by charitable organizations. And then there is Canada, where online gambling is legal but unavailable to the majority of its inhabitants.
A state monopoly
In Canada, online gambling is a state monopoly – only regional lottery corporations are allowed to offer such services. Unfortunately, out of the 10 provincial lottery operators, only three – Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario – have their own online casinos, along with Manitoba, under a special arrangement with the BCLC. Although there is demand for such services in the rest of the provinces (Alberta’s governor was quoted saying that Albertans do play online casino games), the operators allowed to don’t even consider offering them legal online gambling services.
The great offshore
Although offshore online casino operators are not allowed to promote their services to Canadians, they are also not prohibited from accepting Canadian players. And the players – especially those with no local alternative – will flock to them with no restrictions. Any player from any Canadian province is free to visit https://www.vegaspalmscasino.com, for example, create an account, make a real money deposit, and play. The Vegas Palms is a popular destination even for Quebec, BC, and Ontario residents, as it offers them a larger variety of games, bigger bonuses, and more attractive promotions. The Canadian government has tried to block its residents’ access to the Vegas Palms and their likes at an internet service provider level but the proposition was met with major opposition, so it was dropped. The Vegas Palms and the rest of the hundreds of legal and regulated online casinos (outside Canada, of course) remain attractive destinations for Canadian players.
No licensing possible
The major international online gambling groups and operators would gladly pay taxes and licensing fees to the Canadian government if they would be able to – but they are not. There is no way for an international online gambling firm to obtain a legal status in the country because the federal law clearly states that the regional lottery companies are the only ones that can operate such gaming venues on Canadian soil. This leaves the Canadian government with its monopoly, and gaming operators with all the tax money they are not enforced to pay in Canada.
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