Single-event sports betting will officially become legal in Canada on August 27, 2021.
With the passing of Bill C-218, the decade-long fight by industry leaders and NDP MP Brian Masse comes to a close.
The amendments to paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Criminal Code received Royal Assent on June 29, 2021, and will come into effect on Friday, August 27, 2021.
The regulation of single-event sports betting will be up to the discretion of each province and territory with the exception of horse racing, which remains regulated and supervised by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency.
The province will be able to set regulations on sports wagering both online and in physical facilities.
The Canadian Gaming Association estimates that Canadians spend approximately $10 billion per year on single-event sports betting conducted illegally through organized crime and approximately $4 billion through offshore internet sites that are not provincially regulated.
Unifor Local 444 President Dave Cassidy, who represents the employee of Caesars Windsor, indicated he has been having active conversations with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Caesars Windsor. He expects there could be sports betting at the Windsor casino before the end of the year. The addition of sports betting is expected to create about 150 jobs locally.
The OLG has already announced it will be launching a new digital sports betting platform on August 27.
“OLG has been looking forward to offering single-event sports wagering to adult Ontarians for many years,” says Duncan Hannay, OLG President and CEO. “We’re thrilled that we’ll be able to incorporate this exciting feature that bettors have been anxiously awaiting into Ontario’s only legal online sportsbook. In fact, OLG is imminently launching a new digital sports betting platform PROLINE+, which will provide the same security and trust that has been established by OLG’s sports products over the last thirty years.”
PROLINE+ will allow its players to place a legal bet on a single event from a mobile device, tablet or desktop device for the first time ever in Ontario.