As Alberta officially opened its doors to a legal and regulated private online casino market, Casino.org’s Content Editor Daisy Harrison writes for iGaming Expert to outline all the key details and things operators and suppliers need to know before entering the province.
Alberta has officially launched its own regulated iGaming market. July 13th, 2026, marked the first day of operations for dozens of international operators that are now licensed to operate in the province. It’s a historic moment, as Alberta becomes only the second region in Canada to open up its online gambling market to private operators.
Who is regulating Alberta’s market?
Residents will now be able to play at a variety of online casinos regulated by Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis, together with the newly formed Alberta iGaming Corporation. Regulation will provide players with more robust consumer protections and consistent access to safer gambling tools. The AGLC is responsible for the regulatory oversight of the province’s new iGaming industry.
The AiGC is tasked with managing the business framework that allows licensed operators to market themselves to Albertans, as well as managing the regulated market on behalf of the province. This involves overseeing a wide range of matters, from financial reporting to monitoring compliance. The body is led by CEO Dan Keene, who was appointed to the role permanently in April.
Which operators are going live?
Ahead of the launch, nearly 50 operators had successfully registered with the two bodies overseeing the market. However, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, Dale Nally, said ahead of the launch that the number of operators that would be ready for customers on the first day was closer to 20. Players will no doubt recognise the names of some of the biggest hitters in the industry, including BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars.
The first to hit the market will be those big international online operators. They already have experience when it comes to opening in new markets. While some smaller or more local operators might be running late, they are still determined to get their slice of the pie. River Cree Resort and Casino, outside of Edmonton, is one such party. The resort’s CEO, Vik Mahajan, said that it won’t be ready to go live online until later in the year. However, he still views iGaming as an opportunity to grow.
While players will see lots of new entrants, there will be some exiting too. Earlier this month, Estonian platform Coolbet revealed that it would be withdrawing from Alberta’s market rather than obtaining a license. While some operators will be exiting Alberta, players will not be short of safe, regulated options to choose from. Albertans can discover the best Canadian online casino for them, with the guidance of expert written reviews.
Several operators chose to celebrate the day with charitable donations. DraftKings promised to give C$150,000 to Food Banks Alberta. Some of its employees will also lend their time, volunteering. FanDuel is making considerable donations too. It has pledged C$30,000 to the Canadian Red Cross in Alberta, as well as C$50,000 to the Dollar a Day Foundation.
What is changing in Alberta?
Before Alberta’s new competitive market opened, residents were faced with the choice of using the government-run PlayAlberta site or playing at offshore gambling sites. Both options had their own benefits and drawbacks. PlayAlberta was the safe option, where players were protected by local regulation. However, its small portfolio and lack of competitive pricing caused the majority of players to drift off to offshore sites.
In this gray market, most offshore sites being used were simply operators licensed in different jurisdictions. However, this strategy does mean that some players could be at risk of being scammed. Offshore sites are bad news for local government too, as revenue leaks out of the province.
Alberta will now be hoping to rake back some of that lost revenue. The government estimates that the new market will raise an additional C$76 million for the coffers in the first year. 1% of GGR will be invested in problem gambling programs, while 2% is set aside for First Nations. How those funds will be divvied up has not been settled.
PlayAlberta will continue to operate as the province’s official public option. However, it will now have to adapt as it coexists in the market with private operators. The government-run platform was generating C$250 million annually, around a third of the province’s total online gambling spend.
While PlayAlberta has always struggled to capture the market, its existence is not under threat yet. The new framework is designed to shift gray market play into regulated channels, not replace PlayAlberta with privately operated platforms.
What results can Alberta expect?
Alberta is very much following in the footsteps of Ontario, which launched its own competitive market on April 4th, 2022. For the last four years, it has been the only province in Canada to welcome international operators with open arms. Its market has been the cause of much speculation, as the country watched to see how the experiment would unfold.
With four years of financial results locked in, it is clear that the gambit has been a resounding success. It is estimated that Ontario has generated nearly C$10 billion in iGaming revenue, with a CAGR of 22% to 34%. It’s an impressive sum for a jurisdiction that is still so new to the regulated scene.
Ontario’s iGaming success is measurable in other terms too. A study carried out by Ipsos for iGO and AGCO found that over 91.1% of online gamblers in Ontario are choosing regulated sites. That figure marks a 7.4% increase on the previous year. These results show that Ontarians have strong trust and confidence in the province’s regulation.
Alberta is keen to replicate such results, although it will not be repeating Ontario’s playbook verbatim. One significant improvement comes in ensuring that players have access to centralised self-exclusion from day one. Ontario only brought in its centralised self-exclusion, BetGuard, in May this year.
Operators registered in Alberta must promote access to the self-exclusion platform. If a player enrolls in a self-exclusion program before any wagers are settled, the casino is required to void or refund them. The program supports players in taking a break from bricks-and-mortar casinos, racetracks, and iGaming platforms for anywhere from six months to three years.
Another matter that the AGLC wants to be firm on from the outset is that political wagers are banned. It clarified the amendment to the Standards and Requirements for Internet Gaming in a bulletin published in March. In Ontario, meanwhile, election betting is permitted. Alberta is also employing a marginally steeper tax rate than the 20% in place in Ontario.
All eyes will now be on Alberta to see whether it can pull off the same feat as Ontario. Time will tell whether the likes of BC and Québec will take the same leap, but Alberta’s gambit is taking Canada a step closer in that direction.
