The new Alberta iGaming Corporation licensing framework continues to move forward as legislation is passed and Royal Assent awaits!
After a third reading of the passage of Bill 48 at the Alberta Legislature, all that is remaining for the new Alberta iGaming licensing authority is a Royal Assent, which is somewhat of a formality.
It now means the province, which has a population of roughly 5 million people (around a third of Ontario), will soon allow the private operator to apply for licensing after years of only one lone gambling site operating under Alberta law – Play Alberta.
The aim is to reel in 55% of the province’s population that is believed to gamble at overseas online casinos, such as those operated under the Malta Gaming Authority, Curacao Gaming Control Board and the Anjouan Gaming Authority.
As for the other 45% of the online gambling population, as per our previous news report covering the second reading of the passage of Bill 48 at the Alberta Legislature, Alberta to Open Its Online Gambling Market, they current gamble on the Play Alberta government-run website.
We don’t know which online gambling brands will apply for licensing, but we expect many of the same brands already operating in Ontario to apply to operate in Alberta. Our best guess would be BetMGM, Wildz and Wheelz Casinos under the Rootz Limited operator, 888Casino, and Caesars Sportsbook and Casino.
The idea is that these brands will operate under a new regulatory authority, which we previously reported will be a Crown corporation named the ‘Alberta iGaming Corporation’ under the province’s Bill 48: the iGaming Alberta Act. The site will essentially become a subsidiary of the province’s existing Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC).
Therefore, the idea is that a large portion of the aforementioned 55% of the population of Alberta will begin to move away from online casinos regulated overseas and move to domestically regulated brands operating under the Alberta iGaming Corporation licensing framework.
The result should mean more tax dollars for the province.
Source: Our source for this new report was not directly from the AGLC.ca new pages. For the time being, news of the third reading comes via the Alberta Legislature passing the bill report on the gamingamerica.com news publication, which offers reasonably accurate journalism.
What Kind of Revenue Will a New Licensing Framework
It’s difficult to predict how much tax the province will bring in. Still, one thing is for sure is that when the new Alberta-regulated online gambling entertainment platforms are active in the province, millions of Canadian dollars will remain in the province instead of flowing out to overseas operators that offer the province or the country any benefits whatsoever.
According to Globalnews.ca, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis said that “C$5.3 billion in wagers were made on the Play Alberta site in the 2023-2024 fiscal year covering casino games, sports betting and more”.
Now, if that’s 45% of the province’s gambling population, let’s say just half of the 55% that gambles overseas sign up to online gambling entertainment platforms under the Alberta licensing, then that’s then that’s approximately C$3.24 billion in additional wagers that could potentially be brought into Alberta’s regulated.
If Alberta uses the same system as Ontario, where online casino operators licensed under iGaming Ontario (iGO) are subject to a 20% tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR), which is a rate that applies uniformly across all operators, regardless of their size or earnings, Alberta could benefit from an additional $106 million in annual tax revenue.
Walking You Through Whispers to Fully Fledged Alberta iGaming Legislation
We’ve been closely following the rise of a new iGaming licensing authority that will open the doors to private operators to offer players in the Canadian province online gambling services.
It began with a whisper, and in the beginning, we were not sure if a province with such a small population would succeed in opening up an Ontario-style iGaming licensing system.
Since that whisper, which we reported a little under one year ago in our Are the Rumours of an Alberta Ontario-Style Licensing Authority True? news report, things have moved forward faster than we could have anticipated.
In September 2024, the initial readings of the iGaming Alberta Act (Bill 48) that took place in the Alberta Legislature, in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta chamber in Edmonton, new legislation began to come out of the woodwork.
At this point, any doubts over the introduction of a new iGaming licensing authority were firmly put to rest.
By March this year, a second reading came into action, which was pretty much confirmation that opening the province up to private operators was on the cards. Despite the reading meeting, stark oppositional criticism from the NDP MPs, the third reading early this May 2025 appears to leave only one more step to move forward, which, as we mentioned at the beginning of this news report, Royal Assent is needed.
Stay tuned for more gambling news on the situation in Alberta. We’ll report exactly when the licensing authority starts to accept applications from operators and follow the launch of the new iGaming and sports betting marketing in the province.
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