Jemma McColgan, Senior Content Editor at Casino.org, discusses the continued strength displayed by Ontario’s regulated iGaming market. McColgan looks at how Canada’s co-hosting of the World Cup boosted Ontario’s sportsbook industry, and set lofty expectations in Alberta.
Ontario’s iGaming revenue has surged yet again, according to the latest results published by iGaming Ontario. Since opening its doors to private operators in 2022, the province has been under the microscope. The market performance for May is proof, if any is needed, that Ontario is getting it right. The province has seen revenue climb at a pace unmatched elsewhere in the country, as it recorded its highest figures yet for online casino wagers and revenue.
The region is now home to 48 licensed operators, which together operate 83 online casino, sports betting, poker, and bingo sites. The rise of competitive markets like Ontario’s has seen the need for strong and reliable consumer guidance grow. Casino.org is one of the leading platforms being used by Canadians today to discover their next favorite online casino in Ontario to play at.
May saw C$9.47 billion measured in total cash wagers, up 2% on the previous month. NAGGR was also up 2% on the month prior, at C$413.1 million. Breaking those figures down, the casino niche was responsible for the lion’s share of cash wagers, recorded at C$8.37 billion. The same pattern was evident in the NAGGR figures, with casino contributing C$326 million of that total figure.
Before May’s figures were released, the best month for online casino wagers in Ontario came in March, when a sum of C$8.33 billion was recorded. December 2025 was the previous best month for revenue, with a figure of C$320.7 million recorded. May’s online casino wagers have grown 20.4% on the previous year, while revenue has climbed 25.6% on last May.
It’s no surprise, with these figures in mind, that online casino makes up the lion’s share of the market. At 88%, the niche dominates over betting, which comes in at 10%, and P2P poker, which makes up just 1%. Further to this, online casino contributed 79% of May’s total NAGGR, according to iGO.
Ontario iGaming’s published results weren’t wholly positive across the board, though. Sports betting lagged behind the other handles, constituting just 10% of total spend. Cash wagering on sports fell by 7% on the previous month. Furthermore, the total figure bet on sports, C$972 million, was exactly the same as in May 2025.
World Cup to Boost Betting
While these results might appear more than a little disappointing, it’s not unusual for sports betting figures to fluctuate across the year. The sporting calendar has a huge impact on the number of wagers placed, and there are dry spells ahead of events as fans save up their funds.
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup now finished, sports betting will certainly have risen since May. Ontario sportsbooks have already reported increased betting activity from footie fans. With Canada one of the three World Cup hosts this year, summer 2026 is primed to be a bumper year for sports betting.
The World Cup saw 104 matches take place across 39 days at venues spanning three countries. Of these games, 13 were scheduled to be hosted in Toronto and Vancouver. Toronto Stadium, which hosted six matches, is Canada’s first soccer-specific stadium and is home to Canada’s national soccer team.
BC Place hosted Vancouver’s share of seven matches, including Canada’s dominating 6-0 win over previous competition hosts, Qatar. The same match saw forward Jonathan David enter the record books, as he scored the first World Cup hat-trick for a host nation since England’s Geoff Hurst in 1966.
That decisive victory saw the team sail through Group B to the Round of 32, where they beat South Africa 1-0. However, the country’s run came to an end in the Round of 16, when Morocco beat the side 3 points to nil in Houston.
2026 marks the first time ever that Canada has been a FIFA World Cup host. The country has qualified for Cup finals twice before. The first time was in 1986, when the tournament was hosted by this year’s co-hosts, Mexico. The second time was more recently, at Qatar’s 2022 World Cup. Its role in this year’s competition will help to build a lasting legacy for the future of football in Canada.
Alberta Follows Where Ontario Leads
Until very recently, Ontario was an outlier as the only province to operate an open and competitive online gambling market. On 13 July, that changed. Alberta officially opened up its own iGaming market to private operators, in a bid to reap some of the benefits seen in the Heartland Province. The first day of trading saw 22 iGaming sites ready for business, but that number will surely rise over the coming months.
While Alberta’s market does follow along the lines of the Ontario model, it is not to be a carbon copy. The province is hoping to achieve similarly positive financial results to those reaped in Ontario. Its government has estimated that the new iGaming market could generate an extra C$76 million for the coffers in its first year. 1% of that revenue will be set aside for problem gambling programs, while 2% will go to First Nations.
In comparison, PlayAlberta, the government-run platform, generated an average of C$250 million annually. That is thought to be around a third of the total online gambling spend in the province. Alberta has taken decisive action against a significant issue: its failure to capture the market.
The benefits of the new open iGaming market will not only be fiscal, though. By bringing private operators into the fold, granting them licenses, there will be proper regulatory oversight. The Alberta iGaming Corporation will work with Alberta Gaming, Liquor, & Cannabis to ensure that operators meet set standards. All iGaming products offered must be fair, private information secure, and players protected from harm.
Alberta’s market launched with a centralized self-exclusion program in place from the outset. The Self-Exclusion Program is a valuable tool that players can use to take a break from online platforms, as well as race grounds and physical casinos. Players can exclude themselves for periods ranging from six months to three years. Ontario’s offering, Bet Guard, was only launched in May of this year.
