Ontario, Canada issues new licences for online gambling
iGaming Ontario, issued new licenses coinciding with the launch of the province’s gambling market on 4th April, 2022.
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)’s new licenses
IGaming Ontario which is a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) issued new licenses to a number of major gambling operators. These includes:
- The 888 Group
- LeoVegas
- Rush Street Interactive
- Rivalry, theScoreBet
- Annexio Limited operating as Lotogo, Coolbear, Fitzdares and NSUS Limited, operating under the WSOP brand
- Hillside, operating as Bet365
- FanDuel and Unibet, owned by Flutter Entertainment
The Licences will run from the formal launch of the newly regulated igaming market on 4th April, 2022 to 3rd April, 2024.
The move comes after Canada had ratified a legislation in August of last year to permit single game sportsbetting, whereby punters will have the ability to make legal bets on single football, baseball and ice hockey events as well as a range of action from other sports. This measure, which was known as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, also gave individual jurisdictions the right to determine how best to license and oversee such operations for their own populations.
Ontario the most populated province in Canada, with 14.57 million people (2019), will be the first province to allow “open market” move towards online gambling. Other jurisdictions like British Columbia and Quebec only granted single-game online sports betting licenses to state run lottery corporations.
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