Alberta is one step closer to opening the province’s online gambling market to private operators.
Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, Dale Nally, tabled legislation Wednesday that would create a new Crown Corporation, the Alberta iGaming Corporation, to oversee the new market and put the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis Corporation in charge of regulation.
Nally introduced Bill 48, known as the iGaming Alberta Act, to the legislature, delivering the first reading of the new bill. It will now flow through the parliamentary process and will become law upon receiving royal assent. At that point, the government will have the ability to set a prospective launch date for its new iGaming market.
Industry sources have told Canada Sports Betting that they’re hopeful the new market can launch by Q1 of 2026.
“I would like to congratulate Minister Nally and the government of Alberta for successfully advancing this important piece of legislation,” said Paul Burns, CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, in a statement to CSB. “The industry is excited for this next step to bring an open and competitive iGaming market to Alberta.”
Nally announced last June at the Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto that the province intended to create an open gambling market, like recently implemented in Ontario, but the due diligence process of launching such a complex market has taken much longer than expected. The Alberta government has taken its time consulting with local First Nations and gambling industry leaders in Ontario as it begins to develop the framework for its market.
Nally previously announced the Summit that Alberta intends to largely adopt the framework from Ontario’s model, but with a few “tweaks” for the local Alberta market. During his speech on Wednesday, he announced one major “tweak” to the framework regarding a centralized self-exclusion program for bettors. He consistently preached throughout his address the importance of responsible gambling.
“If there is one thing I think we can do better [than Ontario], it’s that we can go live on day one with centralized self-exclusion,” Nally revealed. “I’ve heard directly from Albertans who have struggled with problematic gambling behaviours, specifically online, and they’ve chosen to stop gambling. They’ve cancelled their accounts. Some of these sites continue to market to them, email them with bonus offers, so our commitment is that on day one, there will be system-wide self-exclusion, you’ll be able to push a button and you won’t be able to play on any of the regulated online spaces. That will also include land-based casinos and racing centres.”
New revenue streams needed with Trump’s tariffs
The wheels were already in motion to innovate Alberta’s iGaming strategy before U.S. President Donald Trump began threatening to impose tariffs on imports from Canada, but the trade war has only magnified the importance of provinces seeking opportunities to create new local revenue streams.
Eilers & Krejcik, a boutique research firm focused on servicing the gaming equipment, sports, and interactive gaming sectors within the global gaming industry, has estimated that the new Alberta online gambling market could generate $863 million (USD) in gross gaming revenue at maturity.
Ontario’s iGaming market now consists of roughly 50 operators, and online gaming platforms generated $2.2 billion in total gaming revenue in the second year the market was in operation, according to iGaming Ontario’s 2023-2024 report. And a recent iGaming Ontario and Deloitte study found that Ontario’s regulated competitive iGaming market sustained almost 15,000 jobs and added a combined $1.24 billion to federal, provincial, and municipal government revenues in its second year of operation, contributing $2.7 billion to Ontario’s GDP in that span.
Play Alberta still a priority
In the meantime, the province’s only legal iGaming and sports betting option, Play Alberta, has been preparing to lose its legal monopoly in the online gambling space ahead of the arrival of private operators. Several updates have been rolled out over the past several months in an attempt to revamp its online casino and sports betting platforms. With possibly dozens of operators licking their lips to do business in the province, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis online gambling platform is doing everything it can to try and maintain its market share, which is estimated at 45% as it competes with grey market sites.
All of AGLC’s profits are reinvested back into provincial programs, but that won’t be the case for the private operators entering the marketplace in the future. They’ll need to pay a tax that is undetermined at this time on their gross gaming revenue to the provincial government. Operators pay roughly a 20% tax in Ontario, and it’s expected Alberta’s tax on gaming operators will likely be somewhere in the same ballpark.
Play Alberta recently enhanced its existing partnerships with the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation, which owns and operates five professional sports franchises: the Calgary Flames (NHL), Calgary Stampeders (CFL), Calgary Roughnecks (NLL), Calgary Wranglers (AHL), and the Calgary Hitmen (WHL). Under the new terms of both these deals, Play Alberta will be the “exclusive” sports betting and online gaming partner with both properties, essentially taking away marketing opportunities with nearly all of the major professional sports franchises from private operators ahead of the launch of the market.
This past year, PlayAlberta.ca generated $235 million in net sales, an increase of more than $42 million from 2022-23. That number contributes to the $1.5 billion in total gaming revenue that’s sent to Alberta’s General Revenue Fund and supports programs and services that Albertans rely on every day.