Just over 10% of Canadian's play with online casinos - here's why the figure is likely to grow

Once upon a time when you wanted to go to a casino it was a question of dressing up and heading out for the night. But in the 1990s all that began to change. This was when the very first generation of online casinos began to emerge. Basic and visually fairly uninteresting, this didn’t seem to present much of a barrier to many people and this whole new way of gambling quickly caught on.

Some countries embraced it sooner than others, with the UK leading the way in introducing legislation as well as a new regulatory authority to oversee every aspect of gambling. Other countries have been slower on the uptake, but are fast catching up now.

Canada is a prime example with more and more provinces starting to set up their own regulated frameworks and authorities. As you might expect, Ontario has led the way, after all it is the most populous of provinces, and in 2022 took the revolutionary step of offering operating licences to online casinos.

Today there are over 40 operating in the region and the revenue they generate has been on a steady increase over the years. According to official figures over 2024 $63 billion was wagered through these sites generating a total gaming revenue of $2.4 billion for operators. The former was a 78% increase over the previous year, the latter a 72% increase. On average, registered players spent $263 a month on the activity.

The games people play

While the figures aren’t able to drill right down to how the wagers are divided between the various games it’s safe to say that on any Canadian online casino, slots are the stars of the show. This is because they have almost universal appeal. They’re easy to play, can offer substantial prizes and are available in a very wide range of themes. They are also widely reviewed online, for example players can look for online slots in Canada according to the expert Daisy Harrison and know exactly what to expect. This includes whether the game is one that offers less frequent bigger payouts or smaller ones, more often. The reviews even include the official Return To Player – that’s the percentage of stake money the game returns as prizes.

Next up come the table games of roulette, blackjack and baccarat. Some go for the excitement of the spinning roulette wheel while others like to take on the dealer with baccarat. But for those who like to include some strategy to their play then blackjack is the logical choice.

The drift online

You may wonder why, if all of these games are available in land-based casinos, people choose to play them online.

There are a number of reasons for this:

• The novelty of online play. For anyone who’s never played in an online casino it’s an exciting new experience. The very best sites make it a frictionless encounter that allows you to switch between games at will. Winnings from one game can be used to play another, or can simply be banked automatically.
• The flexibility to play anywhere. You can literally carry an online casino round with you in your pocket, providing that you have a mobile phone. More and more people are now choosing to play in this way and most leading online casinos have apps that make it an even simpler experience.
• A huge range of games. Every online casino has hundreds of different slots titles, probably more than a land-based casino has space to accommodate. There are also lots of different variations on the table games including speed versions and ones for low or high stakes.
• The “live” experience. Anyone wanting to enjoy a little of the ambience and excitement of the actual casino can now. This is thanks to the emergence of the “live” casino. In this real dealers play real games and the action is streamed directly to players in real time. The action is digitised to allow the games to work online – and there’s even the opportunity to chat to the dealers as you play. With the emergence of augmented and virtual reality, this is likely to become even more realistic in the near future.

Safety assured

Safety might have been a concern for some players. For example, knowing that the online casinos are keeping their personal information securely, as well as their money. But the regulated market in Canada means that all online casinos need to guarantee this to get, and keep, a licence.

There is also reassurance that the games themselves are regularly audited to ensure they too are safe and offer truly random play. Going forward the online casino sector is set to grow even larger with a number of other provinces, led by Alberta, in the process of setting up a regulatory framework. So, the future looks very rosy indeed.

By GamesAndCasino