As the Ontario igaming market celebrates its one year anniversary today, iGaming Ontario (iGO) has shared several striking statistics behind the province’s success story so far.

Since becoming the first Canadian province to launch an open, regulated igaming market on Apr. 4, 2022 – overseen by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGO – Ontario has taken an estimated $35.6bn in total wagers and approximately $1.4bn in total gaming revenue (excluding OLG).

According to iGO, these numbers have elevated the province into the top five gaming jurisdictions in North America.

“Today’s numbers demonstrate that Ontario has one of the best online gaming markets in the world,” said Dave Forestell, iGO Board Chair. “Since Ontario opened the market we have seen new investment, job creation, and captured revenue that used to leave the province.

“Ontario is well on its way to becoming the best gaming jurisdiction in the world.”

Additionally, iGO contends that more than 1.6 million active player accounts – where the monthly spend per active player is around $70 – on websites run by over 40 operators, have made the province ‘the most competitive market in continental North America’.

“Ontario’s igaming market has displaced the pre-existing unregulated market and made Ontario a recognized leader internationally in this industry since its launch in April 2022,” added Attorney General Doug Downey.

Delving deeper into the statistics behind the past year, an Ipsos survey (conducted in March) has revealed around 85% of respondents who gambled online in Ontario over the past three months did so on regulated sites.

Meanwhile, basketball emerged as the most popular sport to bet on, accounting for 28% of the market, followed by soccer (15%), football (14%), hockey (9%) and baseball (8%).

Within the online casino category, 48% of all casino wagers were on slots, 32% on table games with a live dealer, and the remainder (19%) on computer-based table games.