It’s been nearly two years since Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tasked Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally with assessing what a viable commercial regulated online gaming market would look like in the province.
The passage of Nally’s iGaming Alberta Act in May 2025 was a key milestone in the process. Last week’s unveiling of Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis‘ (AGLC) iGaming standards brought Canada closer to allowing online gaming giants such as FanDuel, BetMGM, DraftKings and bet365 to do business in a second province.
“This was a big one, that’s for sure,” Nally told Canadian Gaming Business in an interview. “Bill 48 was really just enabling legislation that would allow us to create the Alberta iGaming Corporation. Now, we have the rules and the policies that the industry is going to have to adhere to in order to be part of this market.
“The industry was anxiously waiting to see what we had to say on things like player safety, the tax rate and things like that. It was a momentous occasion, to say the least.”
Ontario’s influence is clear
It’s been a long time getting to this point. Nally began consulting with industry stakeholders around a year before the enabling legislation passed. He did not write many specific requirements into the bill, choosing instead to leave that to the regulators, with a view to allowing for nimble adaptation in the future and, in keeping with the name of his ministry, reducing red tape when changes may be needed.
“If we had written those rules into legislation, it would be like putting them in granite,” he analogized. “By putting them in regulation, it’s more like Jell-O, and it’s easier to course-correct.”
Naturally, as the only province that currently offers commercial iGaming, Ontario was a significant influence on Alberta’s framework.
Like Ontario, Alberta will set no cap on the number of platforms that can go live, and oversight will be split between AGLC as the regulator and the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC) as the conduct-and-manage agency. Similar to iGaming Ontario (iGO), the AiGC will be responsible for brokering operating agreements, collecting revenues and other management tasks.
It’s also evident from the standards, which show more things in common with how the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) runs things.
“We did follow a lot of lessons learned from Ontario,” Nally acknowledged. “I personally think they did a great job in getting this done and we’ve embraced some of their best practices.”
Not a brand-new start for Ontario licensees
A line in the standards states that AGLC has the sole discretion to “consider an applicant’s registration in another jurisdiction acceptable to AGLC where the applicant is operating in the same role or function.” Many of the operators and suppliers that will be preparing applications now that registration is open with AGLC have been working under regulatory oversight in Ontario for years already.
That’s something that Alberta wants to recognize and reward, explained Nally.
“That’s absolutely something we’re looking at. We’re very like-minded when it comes to the government of Ontario, we’re going down the same path, so there are opportunities to work together to make it easier for operators.
“We want to make it easy for them to transition to the province, to get rid of roadblocks rather than put them up. There are ways that we can do that and those are absolutely things that we’re exploring.”
An iGaming blueprint to follow, but also to refine
Nally and the ALGC have the advantage of being able to look back on nearly four years of iteration in Ontario and assess what they want to do differently.
One thing stipulated in the Alberta legislation was that there would be a centralized self-exclusion system from day one, something Ontario has had in development since 2024 but still does not have in place.
“For us, that’s a line in the sand,” Nally said. “It’s going to ensure that it’s easier for anybody who’s struggling with problematic gambling behaviours to get out of that ecosystem.”
A unique wrinkle of Alberta’s market is that while the nominal tax rate will be 20%, two deductions will be made before that revenue split is applied. One stipulates that 1% of all gross gaming revenue will go towards social responsibility initiatives. Nally told Canadian Gaming Business that the province wants to ensure that gambling addiction treatment gets the same status as treatment of opioid or alcohol addiction, and that slice of revenue will go towards funding and supporting that.
Another 2% of all GGR will be divided among the province’s First Nations communities, reflecting that Alberta has a land-based casino industry with deep Indigenous roots. “We have said all along that the best way to promote economic reconciliation is to allow First Nation communities to benefit from the economic prosperity that this province offers,” Nally said. The minister did not offer any specifics on the mechanics of the revenue share process.
Alberta is also doing something differently by allowing land-based casinos, many of which are owned or operated by First Nations, the opportunity to set up commercial retail sportsbooks on their premises. That’s something the industry pushed for, explained Nally.
“Operators, land-based casinos were asking for it, and so we took a look at it. It was clear to me that this is something that Albertans would enjoy, just one more format to watch the Edmonton Oilers or the Calgary Flames play. It can be a great revenue opportunity for these land-based casinos.”
Nally hints at H1 launch?
Recent events have moved things another step closer to Alberta iGaming going live, but the launch date is expected to still be months away.
“The department hates it when I throw out dates,” Nally concluded. “But the fact we’ve released the regulations tells you we’re moving fast. It’s going to be sooner rather than later. Let me just say that you won’t be asking me when in the summer.”
