A group of online gaming operators and other iGaming stakeholders has again called on the Québec government to allow commercial brands to enter the province and compete with Loto-Québec.
The Québec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC) issued a release on Monday noting that it has briefed the provincial Ministry of Finance on the revenue potential that it believes regulated commercial online gambling would bring. The QOGC stated that La Belle Province is losing out on around $300 million in tax revenue each year by “failing to establish a regulatory framework adapted to the reality of online gaming.”
QOGC spokesperson Ariane Gauthier told Canadian Gaming Business that the lost annual revenue projection is based on a combination of Québec’s adult population and a hypothetical 20% gross gaming revenue tax, similar to what Ontario’s regulated market has in place and to what Alberta is intending to implement in its upcoming iGaming market.
The QOGC is comprised of U.S. gaming giant DraftKings and FanDuel owner Flutter, BetMGM co-parent and Sports Interaction owner Entain, Super Group brand Betway, Rush Street Interactive (the company behind BetRivers), Canadian operator Bet99, major supplier Games Global and Apricot Investments.
Digital gaming’s potential overlooked, says QOGC
In the press release, the coalition claimed that around 2,000 websites “of varying quality” offer online casino, sports betting and poker games in the province, despite Loto-Québec notionally holding a monopoly on online gaming in the province.
The coalition further asserted that Loto-Québec’s predominant focus on land-based gaming and other physical gaming threatens to waste the potential of expanded iGaming.
The government-run operator reported in December that between April 1 and Sept. 29, its total revenue was $1.53 billion, up 1.8% year over year. The casinos and gaming halls sector accounts for 43% of that total. Loto-Québec President and CEO Jean-François Bergeron said that the lottery’s online gaming business grew around 17% compared to last year.
But Gauthier argued at last year’s Canadian Gaming Summit that, adjusting for inflation, the lottery corporation is actually on the decline.
“Why limit the regulation of online gaming to Loto-Québec sites alone, when the offering available on the Internet is much broader?” said Gauthier in the new Feb. 9 release.
Look at Ontario and Alberta, coalition urges
Currently, Ontario is the only province that conducts a commercial regulated iGaming market; in all other provinces, the only government-authorized online gaming platform is run by the government.
Gauthier told Canadian Gaming Business last year that Ontario has been a proven success in showing that Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) can continue to grow even when faced with dozens of competitors. “Quebecers are not presented with a fair perspective of what is going on in Ontario,” she said in June 2025. “There is a kind of myth of distorted reality.”
Soon, there will be two regulated iGaming provinces, as Alberta is gearing up to launch its own market later this year. All of the QOGC’s member operators, plus Games Global, have a strong presence in the Ontario market and the likes of FanDuel, BetRivers and Betway have all confirmed plans to seek a license to enter Alberta.
“We believe Alberta will provide additional proof that a competitive market can deliver better results to protect players and to provide more revenue to the government, compared to a state monopoly such as Loto-Québec,” Gauthier told Canadian Gaming Business. “Alberta will also show that when a province implements a mechanism similar to Ontario’s, including licenses, an independent regulator, taxation, there is room to adopt different rules to address specific issues such as promotion and revenue sharing.
“As more and more Canadian provinces will shift away from the model of a state monopoly, which is completely obsolete when it comes to online gaming, Québec will be isolated and its position will weaken. The multiple examples of success in other provinces should pressure Québec to modernize its regulation of online gaming.”
Loto-Québec issues fierce rebuttal
In a statement to Lottery Daily, Loto-Québec Head of Media Relations Renaud Dugas responded to the QOGC’s comments by accusing the coalition, which he said “brings together foreign companies that do not create value in Québec,” of pushing for online gaming regulation under the pretext of protecting players.
“However, the operators it represents are themselves the source of risk by offering their products illegally,” Dugas added. “Moreover, they violate the existing framework: the Criminal Code of Canada. This is an insult to Quebecers’ intelligence. The goal of the coalition is clear: to legalize what’s illegal and further develop a market that only benefits foreign companies — not players.”
Noting that 100% of Loto-Québec’s gaming proceeds stay in the province, Dugas opined that the coalition is trying to downplay Loto-Québec’s impact to further its members’ own agenda.
In a response to that statement, the QOGC accused Loto-Québec of “spreading inaccurate information.” It noted that as coalition members do not operate in Québec, they cannot be deemed illegal by the provincial government.
Québec coalition makes recommendations
In its public release, the QOGC made four major recommendations to the Québec government, based on the experiences of Ontario and Alberta’s move toward change:
- Give an independent regulatory body responsibility for supervising iGaming, including Loto-Québec
- Develop standards to regulate both private and public online gaming, in collaboration with stakeholders
- Define the criteria for obtaining an operating license and sign a revenue-sharing agreement with the Québec government
- Allocate a portion of revenue generated by private iGaming to support Québec communities and increase funding for prevention activities
“The Québec Online Gaming Coalition reiterates its commitment to working with the Québec government and stakeholders to develop a regulatory framework for online gaming,” concluded the QOGC.
It added that it is committed to addressing issues related to consumer safety, money laundering, responsible gaming and advertising, while paying the Quebec government a portion of the revenue generated within its territory.
