A new report from CasinoCanada.com highlights that while Canada’s online gambling market continues to expand rapidly, the country still lacks a nationwide self-exclusion system and unified licensing framework, leaving significant gaps in player protection.
Canada generated an estimated CAD 13.15 billion in online gambling revenue during 2025, making it the third-largest iGaming market worldwide. Despite this impressive growth, new research by CasinoCanada.com argues that the country has yet to establish a national self-exclusion register or a centralized regulatory framework, creating vulnerabilities for both players and licensed operators.
Drawing on data from iGaming Ontario, provincial regulators, the Blask 2025 iGaming Landscape Report, and peer-reviewed public health research, the study explains that Canada’s constitutional framework leaves gambling regulation to individual provinces. As a result, the country operates through ten separate regulatory systems that function independently without a unified player protection mechanism.
The fragmented landscape also contributes to substantial offshore gambling activity. According to the report, estimated offshore market leakage outside Ontario ranges from 49% in British Columbia to 93% in Saskatchewan, while both Alberta and Manitoba are estimated at 88%. Offshore gambling platforms also expanded by 40% year-over-year in 2025, significantly outperforming the 23% growth recorded by licensed operators.
The report further highlights growing concerns regarding responsible gambling. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in January 2026 found that gambling-related contacts to ConnexOntario’s support helpline increased by an estimated 198% following the launch of Ontario’s regulated market in 2022. Most of the increase was concentrated among boys and men aged 15 to 44.
Ontario nevertheless continues to stand out as a regulatory success story, achieving a 91.1% channelization rate while its newly introduced BetGuard self-exclusion program attracted more than 500 registrations during its first two weeks. However, CasinoCanada notes that the system remains limited to Ontario and does not extend across Canada’s estimated 1.235 million active player accounts.
According to Eugene Ravdin, Head of PR at CasinoCanada, market expansion and player protection should evolve together.
“Record wagering volumes and a nearly 200% increase in helpline contacts are happening simultaneously, showing that market growth and player protection are not the same thing. Internationally successful tools such as GAMSTOP, Spelpaus, and BetStop work because they cover the entire market through a single registration.”
He added that Canada still lacks a comparable nationwide solution.
“A national self-exclusion register would not only better protect players but would also strengthen the competitive position of licensed operators against offshore gambling sites. This is as much a commercial argument as it is a moral one.”
