Guide to gambling ages in Canada

Online gambling sites must also check you’re playing from within a licensed location. In the past, providing details of your address when signing up was all that was required, but in recent years regulatory laws have been tightened.

Nowadays, casino sites are using geolocation technology to identify where gamblers are playing from. This also helps prevent identity theft and detect fraud faster.

In Ontario, online casinos must use geolocation to track players, while many international casinos available across the rest of Canada also do so. Geolocation is not a single technology but rather a group of tools, including cellular positioning, GPS and Wi-Fi location tracking.

Today, you can choose from thousands of online slots, with different themes, features and payouts.

Modern video slots have become hugely popular, thanks to rich graphics, crisp sound effects, and animations that make games more immersive and entertaining. There are also huge prizes to be won in progressive slot games, which feature a growing jackpot that can run into millions of dollars.

Online casino table games can be played against a virtual dealer or AI players. There are also live dealer options, which offer gameplay in real-time through a live stream with a professional human dealer.

When visiting online casinos available in Canada, you can choose from a wide range of games and variations with different rules, strategies and betting limits to suit all budgets. Popular table games include blackjack, roulette, baccarat, poker, craps and sic bo.

You can also play online video poker if you meet the legal gambling age in Canada. In Ontario, you can access poker networks and online casinos with video poker regulated by the province. In other parts of Canada, you can play at internationally licensed gambling sites.

Compared to the traditional format, video poker requires far less skill, making it easier to win real money as you play. You can choose from many variations, such as Texas Hold’em, Deuces Wild, Stud and more.

Online bingo is a game of luck that is available at dedicated online bingo sites and some online casinos. The game involves using virtual cards and a random number generator (RNG) to replicate gameplay at a land-based bingo hall.

Many types of online bingo exist, including 90-ball, 75-ball and themed bingo rooms. Most online bingo sites have a wide selection of rooms to play in, with different features, patterns and themes. This makes finding bingo games that suit your budget and preferences easy.

Canadians love the lottery, and they have lots to choose from. Three national lotteries are open to all Canadians in every province: LOTTO MAX, The Daily Grand and Lotto 6/49. There are also five regional lotteries covering specific provinces. Each of the following lottery games can be played by buying tickets at retail locations or online:

• Atlantic 49(Atlantic Lottery): New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador
• BC/49(British Columbia Lottery Corporation): British Columbia
• Quebec 49(Loto-Québec): Québec
• Ontario 49(Ontario Lottery and Gaming): Ontario
• Western Max 6/49(Western Canada Lottery Corp): Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Northwestern Territories

If you want to bet on single sports events in Canada, you’ll need to head online, as all provinces (apart from Ontario) only offer parlay-style multi-market betting. You can visit internationally regulated sports betting sites from anywhere in Canada.

In Ontario, thanks to the launch of its regulated sports betting program last year, sports betting is now available online at AGCO-licensed sportsbooks.

You can choose from different types of bets, such as moneyline, point spread, totals, props and futures. Sportsbooks offer a range of sports and markets at varying odds, including live betting options that let you wager in play as the action unfolds. The legal gambling age in Canada also covers sports betting.

Ontario is (so far) the only province in Canada that has created a legal framework for online casinos and sportsbooks. The casino age limit in Ontario is 19, and this extends to all forms of gambling. The one exception is lottery games, which accept players aged 18 or over. Licences have been available for casino and sports betting operators since April 4, 2022.

There are over 70 licensed online casinos and 30 legal sportsbooks operating in Ontario under the regulation of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and its subsidiary, iGaming Ontario. Residents and visitors in ON can also visit over 25 land-based casinos located within the province.

To gamble in Alberta, you must be 18 or over, which is the legal gambling age in the province. Unfortunately, Alberta does not regulate online casinos and sportsbooks locally. Still, you can visit sites licensed by internationally reputed authorities like the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).

Alberta does provide the PlayAlberta site, a government-run portal that offers a limited number of online casino games. If you prefer land-based betting, the province has 28 physical locations.

The casino age in BC is 19+, and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) regulates the industry. Online gambling is currently prohibited, but players in the province can access online casinos and sportsbooks abroad.

BC also has a PlayNow platform operated by the BCLC, which offers slots and other casino games. There are currently 18 land-based casinos in British Columbia, with several located in Vancouver, Kelowna and Burnaby.

You’ll need to be 19 or over to meet the gambling age in Saskatchewan. There is no legal online casino or sports betting in the province, but you can check out online operators licensed overseas anytime.

If you want to experience casino games within Saskatchewan, you can visit one of the eight land-based casinos available in the province. These include the Dakota Dunes Casino in Whitecap and the Bear Claw Casino in Carlyle.

Now you know the legal gambling age in Canada – but what about other countries around the world? Statistics show that 26% of the world’s population (over two billion people) gamble at some point during the year, showing it’s a hugely popular form of entertainment.

Let’s look at how the gambling age limits in other top gambling destinations compare to Canada: