The Government of Canada has announced that Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, which amends Canada’s Criminal Code to legalize single-event sports betting in the country, will come into force on August 27th.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is actively working to introduce a regulatory framework that will allow for single-event betting in Ontario in advance of the launch of the province’s competitive and regulated online gaming market.
On July 28th, the AGCO published a discussion paper and proposed regulatory standards that will apply to all traditional sports, esports, novelty, betting exchange, and fantasy sports products. The proposed standards include measures to minimize the risk of betting markets being compromised through activities such as insider betting or game manipulation, including:
- Requiring operators to actively monitor the betting markets for suspicious betting activity
- Prohibiting insiders, including coaches, athletes and referees, from betting on certain events
- Ensuring that sport and event offerings meet acceptable betting criteria and are not objectionable
The AGCO invites feedback on these standards until August 18, 2021.
More information
- Learn more about the development of regulatory standards for sports and event betting, including how to provide feedback.
- Visit the Future of igaming in Ontario webpage for the most up-to-date developments for the new igaming scheme in Ontario..
- Subscribe to receive periodic e-mail updates about the future of igaming in Ontario.
View the roadmap infographic that identifies the key milestones on the province’s path to introducing a competitive igaming scheme.