Alberta’s government held consultations to discuss a framework that will allow operators to legally offer online gambling in Alberta.
The province of Alberta in Canada will begin drawing up plans to allow operators to apply to operate their online casinos and sports books in the province.
Although a bill has been passed under the passage of Bill 16, actually allowing operators to come into the market is something still under debate. I reported on the matter in June via the Alberta Ontario-Style Licensing Authority news.
Official Alberta Government Consultations
With Play Alberta the only legal provincial site, few though the province would allow competition to interfere with the government-owned site’s monopoly. However, there has been an official consultation covering how the province would implement a new online gambling framework.
Stats Show 72% of Alberta Citizens Over 18 Gamble
It seems the latest official stats have changed government officials’ minds. These stats are coming out of the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) camp.
According to the AGLC, in 2024 there are now 72% of Alberta citizens aged 18+ who gamble online. This statistic is a 2% increase on a previous consensus back in 2022.
One of the key issues is that only 50% of these players choose to play at Play Alberta. Instead, the other 50% favour overseas online casinos and sports books – many of these sites are under the Curacao and MGA licensing as per the Casinoplusbonus Canadian online casinos page.
Many of these players choose to play at online casinos under the MGA and Ontario licensing as they know and trust these platforms—for example, Wildz, Casumo, and Wheelz casinos.
The Aim is To Bring All Alberta Players To Online Gambling Sites with Alberta Licensing
It seems rather than if it is a matter of when Alberta issues a regulatory framework for operators to apply to operate in the province. The idea, as always, is tax dollars, while a push to promote responsible gambling in the province will also become one of the main lobbying points to issue an AGLC online gambling framework.
Another influential factor likely to have swayed the government into discussing a new online gambling regulatory framework is the success of Ontario’s iGaming market. In the latest FY 2024-25 Q1 Ontario Online Gambling Report, the province reported CA$ 18.4 billion in total wagers and a revenue of CA$ 726 million.
Ontario takes 20% of the revenue earned from these gambling companies. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Alberta’s government have their eyes on this kind of revenue share from private operators operating under a new AGLC online gambling regulatory authority.
Yet, despite the impressive numbers in Ontario, Alberta has a few key differences from Ontario to consider before deciding on how its new online gambling framework would look.
What’s the Comparison Between Ontario and Alberta?
We can estimate how much money the Alberta government will bring in by comparing population and revenue to Ontario.
Population Differences
- Alberta Population: According to the Government of Alberta, it has a population of 4,888,723.
- Ontario Population: According to Ontario.ca, the population is closing in on 16 million people.
Ontario has a population of over 2.27 times larger than Alberta with the percentage difference being 227.28%. We can use these stats to predict the revenues private gambling companies will bring into the province.
Revenue Predictions of CA$ 298.13 million Per Year
With Ontario’s revenues at CA$ 726 million after a little over 2 years since the online gambling market opened in the province, Alberta can expect around half this number.
Using the population stats as my way of loosely comparing these two provinces, Alberta can expect its regulated online gambling industry to pull in an estimated CA$ 221.83 million in revenue after 2 years of the iGaming and sports betting market coming online.
If Alberta chooses to take the same route as Ontario and apply a 20% levy on revenues, then my prediction is that the government will pull in around CA$ 44.37 million per year. This figure will likely rise, as will Ontario’s revenues, as each new financial year-end report shows considerable growth.
I fully expect Ontario’s FY 2025-26 report next year to report further growth. If it is a repeat of this year’s FY 2024-25 revenue increase of 34.4%, we are talking close to CA$ 1 billion in revenue. For Alberta, if it matches these figures after three years in operation, its yearly revenue could be as high as CA$ 298.13 million.
After three years in operation, I would predict that Alberta’s provincial government will earn somewhere in the region of CA$ 59.63 million in yearly tax revenues from online gambling.
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