Canadian Sports Betting Sites

Canadian betting sites are popular in part because the sites operate within the confines of legal regulation. Though law varies from province to province, online betting is generally a legal and acceptable way to play games of chance and skill from coast to coast.

Canadians enjoy a kind of freedom in online gaming that their immediate neighbors to the south in the US do not enjoy – a few provincial regulations exist prohibiting certain types of bets (and brick and mortar sportsbook bets aren’t legal anywhere in Canada), but other than that, it’s a gambler’s paradise.


Why is Canada a more gambling-friendly country than America? The country’s liberal position on gambling is a cultural marker, a reminder of a time when Canada was settled by hard-working and hard-gambling frontiersmen. The situation is strange because gaming law right across the border is so harsh; Canadians have the right to place almost any kind of bet they want online. In fact, Canadian companies licensing online gambling are popping up more frequently than ever before.

Today, more than 250 fully-licensed betting sites exist that accept the Canadian dollar as currency and supply games in both English and French, for our Quebecois friends. No matter which Canadian tradition you follow, a ton of sites available in your preferred tongue and currency exist.

Browse by province:

Are Canadian Betting Sites Legal?

The short answer is: “Yes; it is legal for Canadian citizens to gamble online.”

The long answer is … well … long.

The ability to gamble online depends first on the site you choose for your wagers. The site must follow certain regulations put in place by Commonwealth and provincial law. Canadian law is unique in North America in that it leaves the regulation of gambling up to each individual provincial government. This has been especially helpful in the age of online gambling – it takes a while for federal regulations to change, while provincial governments could act quickly and address the issue directly in less time. As a result, all provinces have some form of regulated online gambling. Many provinces run their own networks and lotteries.

Canadian attitudes toward gambling are so lenient that even in territories where gaming regulations exist, the government has been loath to actually prosecute a gambler for placing a bet. No Canadian has ever been arrested or charged with a crime related to the illegal placing of any type of wager. Provided you are of legal gambling age in your province, it is almost certainly legal to place a bet on the Internet.

But federal and provincial law aren’t the only things to consider when it comes to Canadian gaming. First Nations tribes claim that they hold a historical precedent over provincial law while on their traditional land. They claim the right to offer games of chance and skill outside of the scope of any provincial or other laws. The best-known example of this is the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, who license casinos that accept bets from millions of bettors from all over the globe. So far, so good for First Nations’ rights to host and license gaming – no action at any level Canadian government has been taken to take away their right to do so.

The result of liberal provincial law and allowances for tribal gaming is that legal online betting is really accessible in Canada. No federal laws exist that make it illegal to place an online bet. All regulation and oversight of the operation of games like lotteries, poker, casino, and sports bets are left to local gaming authorities and laws.

As far as the legality of online sports bets for Canadians – it’s known that such bets are popular, but they’re not necessarily legal across-the-board. According to figures from the Canadian government, its citizens bet some $15 billion a year on traditional sportsbook wagers.

Some forms of sports betting are explicitly legal in Canada – multi-sports bets (known as parlays, teasers, pleasers, futures, props, etc.) are sanctioned by almost every provincial government – but no form of single-event wagering is yet explicitly legal. So no traditional sportsbooks are available to Canadians. However, there’s no restriction that bans Web-based sportsbook participation, provided the operator of the sportsbook is following provincial gaming regulations.

Our Coverage of Canadian Betting Sites

Here’s what you can expect from my coverage of Canadian betting options –

  • Site reviews
    My reviews are written from my own real experience in the Canadian betting industry. They aren’t written with any concern for marketing or advertisement. I offer you real details on Canadian betting sites, including links to back up what I say about a site.
  • Details on Canadian currency support
    Not every betting site allows deposits and withdrawals in Canadian dollars. I’ll tell you which ones do – and I’ll help you figure out how to deposit to sites that don’t.
  • Canada-specific bonus reports
    Bonus offers aimed at Canadians take a few different forms – most are based on deposits and withdrawals using Canadian payment methods. I’ll show you where to find them and how to earn them.
  • Details on deposit and withdrawal methods
    Because each Canadian betting site has a different lineup of payment methods (and each requires the payment of different fees and penalties), it’s important to look at the deposit and withdrawal methods available at a site before you join.
  • Customer service contact information
    If you’re sick of spending half an hour digging around a site for a phone number or email address, I’ve got you covered with up-to-date details on Canadian Betting site contacts.
  • Discussions of Canadian gaming law
    Too often, the legal situation in the United States affects coverage of Canadian betting. I have researched Canada law and approach the topic from a Commonwealth perspective.

Along with that coverage specific to Canada, you’ll find information on mobile gambling, general betting guides, and additional details on all the betting site data that matters to you. I also cover US betting sites in detail, and most of them accept business from citizens of Canada.

Conclusion

Canadians are left out of the gambling law and betting site discussion too often. This is partially due to the loud and newsworthy US betting scene just to our south. For whatever reason, it’s not fair that Canadians interested in online betting get short shrift. If you’re looking for information from a Canadian perspective on betting sites that do business with customers from Canada, I offer everything you need here in one easy to search location.