EDMONTON — Alberta's government is looking to regulate private online gambling websites and apps in a move it says will capture lost revenue and protect bettors.
If passed, new legislation tabled Wednesday by Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally would see the province create a new Crown corporation to set rules for online casinos and safeguards for users.
Nally told reporters that what those rules and safeguards will be still needs to be determined, but the government's goal isn't to make online gambling more accessible.
Instead, he said, it's to rein in an ever-growing industry that, without regulation, will only pose more and more risk to consumers.
“The reality is that online gambling is alive and well in this province,” he said. “Let's suppose this legislation doesn't pass; that won't stop online gambling from continuing to grow.”
Nally estimated the government-owned Play Alberta website — the only regulated online gambling option currently available in the province – takes in less than half of the overall online gambling market. The rest goes to sites run by offshore companies, such as Bet365, which Albertans are still able to access but don’t pay fees into government coffers.
“If we can capture those revenues and we can repatriate some of those dollars back into Alberta, we'll have the funds to be able to help and support Albertans,” he said, adding that it's unclear how much revenue the government is losing to unregulated companies every year.
The province's gambling regulator, Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis, says $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.
The agency's latest annual report says those bets equal a 21 per cent increase compared with the year before and $235 million in government revenue.
That same report also says Play Alberta saw a 27.5 per cent increase in user sign-ups in 2023-2024, “indicating continued growth and interest in legal online gambling.”
While there’s no guarantee that every offshore company will register with the province once the regulations are finalized, Nally pointed to Ontario’s model over the past three years and said many operators want to be regulated.
“It's a simple case of 'If you build it they will come,’ and we know this because they told us that,” Nally said.
"We know that there are responsible operators that want to be part of a safer, more responsible gambling ecosystem, and we know that there's illicit operators that don't want to."
In 2022, Ontario became the first Canadian province to regulate online casinos. Ontario’s online gambling regulator, iGaming Ontario, reported that more than 40 companies registered to operate under provincial oversight and more than $35 billion in bets were made in the first year.
Gurinder Brar, the Opposition NDP Service Alberta critic, said time will tell if Alberta's attempt to corral the online gambling sector will be successful, as the rules and regulations companies need to follow haven't been determined yet.
Brar also said the United Conservative Party government will need to ensure additional tools and resources are in place to support those with gambling addictions.
Nally said one safeguard that will be implemented is a voluntary self-exclusion program that gamblers can enrol in to bar themselves from gambling online. It already exists for physical casinos.
University of Calgary clinical psychology professor David Hodgins said the program is absolutely necessary, and he hopes the government keeps an open mind when considering other potential safeguards.
"The abundance of caution kind of approach, I think, is warranted," said Hodgins, who also serves as research director of the university's Alberta Gaming Research Institute.
While many can gamble without serious repercussions, he said a "substantial minority" of people who try gambling develop serious addictions.
"Many people will ... just simply get in over their head, spend too much money, try to win back money that they've lost and experience stress and family issues and financial problems associated with over involvement with gambling," he said.
"It is something that we need to work to minimize."
Hodgins said some jurisdictions allow users to set spending and loss limits and have systems that track gaming habits to identify users with concerning habits.
He said whatever measures are put in place should be monitored, and modified if needed.
"For a product like this that's potentially harmful, we really should be doing close monitoring of what the impact is, and I hope that that's part of the plan in Alberta."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2025.
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
