The Canada Sports Betting Network
Is hockey betting legal in Canada?
The short answer is: Yes. It is easy for some people to be confused by the issue
of the legality of sports and hockey wagering in Canada. Some people wonder why
sportsbook companies advertise on television but always finish by saying “this is
not a gambling site” and that the site they are advertising is only for fun or for
checking scores and odds. You see, companies like those below are not allowed to
advertise their sports betting, casino or poker games services where players actually
use real money. Thus, what you will always hear being advertised is the “dot-net”
version of their website. This will be a completely free, educational or informational
site. Since no money is at stake with these free and educational sites, the companies
are allowed by law to advertise them. Of course, the companies involved hope you
will recognise their brand and simply navigate to the regular site that involves
real money.
Certainly this seems like an odd rule to for these companies to adhere to, since
the free brand and real-money brands are identical. But at least this explains why
you only every see “.net” sites advertised. Don’t let it confuse your, online sport
betting is legal in Canada for the consumers. For more information on the situation,
you might wish to read about legal Canadian betting sites.
The second thing that can confuse people is our proximity to the US where gambling
online has been made much more difficult and illegal for some. In that country The
US Federal government made it difficult to move player money to the sports betting
services as credit card companies were no longer allowed to process such transactions.
Rest assured there is no such set of laws or restrictions in Canada and in fact,
Canada is home to one of the most popular and important gaming and sports betting
regulation jurisdictions, that being the Kahnawake Gaming Commission which is a
Mohawk Territory located just outside of Montreal. Kahnawake regulates and Sports
Interaction below.
Hockey betting will be fully legal in Ontario come early 2022
While hockey betting has always been a legally safe activity for hockey bettors that
played at offshore betting sites, up until June 2021, it has not been legal to offer
single-event wagering as an operator in Canada.
Bill C-218, was passed into law in June 2021, which changed this, making single-vent
betting legal from an operator perspective. While provinces across the country have
for the most part simply adjusted their various sports lottery games to allow for
this change, Ontario is taking a more aggressive approach.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario created a new department called iGaming
Ontario which would oversee, regulate and partner with Ontario iGaming license holders
that wish to serve the Ontario market. iGaming is another term for online gambling
and betting. Ontario is opening its market with an uncapped number of potential
license holders. Applicants will need to follow Ontario rules, have their products
fully tested to their standards and pay license fees and taxes in the form of a share
of gaming proceeds.
As a result of this framework, we can expect upwards of 30 fully licensed and legal
Ontario betting sites to be ready for the market launch in early 2022. Given how
many previously ‘offshore’ players will be brought back into the legal system, this
launch will be closely watched by other provinces that may wish to do the same thing
by either joining the Ontario iGaming market, or by looking to create their own market.
Short Summary of the Top Legal Hockey Betting Sites for Canadians
Top Hockey Betting Sites Canada
GO!
Bodog is one of the oldest brand names in online betting, in business since 1994.
Bodog is specially targeted to the Canadian market, so you know they cater to Canadians
preferences and requirements. For example, they are the only betting site that accepts
the popular-in-Canada Interac Email Transfer as a deposit method. Read the full
review here.