Are Online Casinos Fully Legal in Canada?

Canada is one of the really few countries in the world where online casino gambling is completely free and legal.

19:46 09 February 2022

Canada is one of the really few countries in the world where online casino gambling is completely free and legal. There are certain nuances that should be considered by the players, and there is a separate legislation for businesses. but overall, Canadians enjoy an almost unseen freedom when it comes to making real money bets on casino games or sports, online. Most gamblers in the world do not enjoy that level of freedom. 

 

However, this situation in turn creates conditions when not all casino sites available to Canadian gamblers are actually legit online casinos that are safe to play at. Due to the abundance of offers on the market, some scammy sites, or simply low quality gambling platforms, can also sneak in and start offering their services to the unaware Canadian players who are mostly used to the fact that online gambling services are usually decent for them. 

 

This raises the question: are all online casinos legit for Canada, and if not, how to double-check whether a particular gambling site is legit? 

 

Canadian Gambling Laws 

Before being able to evaluate a particular safe Canadian online casino sites, it is first important to be aware of the laws for businesses and for players.

 

All gamblers in Canada have the right to make real money bets on any games or sports online, using any currency, if they are 19 years old and older. Gamblers are not expected to pay any additional fees to casino sites for the services. Gamblers are not expected to pay taxes to the government from whatever they win, unless the winnings exceed a certain maximum limit (for example, a huge jackpot win usually exceeds the limit), so gamblers playing on a regular basis should find out more about this law in their jurisdiction. Canadians are recommended to only play at casino sites licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, but the players are never limited, or persecuted for playing at other sites. 

 

As for online casino sites, they are allowed to offer their services to Canadian players if the site is operated from offshore. At the time of writing this, local gambling businesses or land based gambling houses cannot open separate online casino sites, or chain sites, targeting Canadians. Also, all sites that want to fully legally operate in Canada are expected to get the Kahnawake Gaming Commission license, but other sites are not limited or blocked for access, unless they are blacklisted as obvious scam. 

 

So, the situation for the players in Canada is quite advantageous. The only real drawback is that, since most sites are run from the offshore, Canadian authorities cannot fully protect the local gamblers when online casinos misbehave. 

 

How To Tell If Online Casino Is Legal? 

Checking an online casino quality of service takes some time, effort, and some serious background knowledge about online casinos. However, checking the legitimacy of a casino site is a bit easier if the player knows what to look for. Here is the list of criteria for the casino to meet: 

 

• license is present 
• the license is preferably by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, MGA, or another respectable body 
• the license badge on site is linked to the actual license document on the site of the licensing authority 
• full license information is provided 
• the site’s owner/operator is stated clearly 
• legal address of the owner is indicated 
• additional certification badges, if any, are linked to the actual certifications 
• preferably certified by eCOGRA 
• offering clear T&C 
• offering adequate banking rules with banking options available in Canada
• has an active SSL encryption certificate 
• has Responsible Gambling policy and tools 

 

Checking these things will quickly give a bigger picture of the site to the potential customer. If the mentioned above criteria are not met, or the player feels the gambling conditions are unclear, such sites should better be avoided. 

 

What To Do In Case of Scam? 

If a player has issues with the casino site, the first option is to contact the Customer Support and ask for filing a complaint. The second option is to contact the license issuing authority which gave their license to the site, and file a complaint on their platform. Some sites indicate the third party that is expected to handle all complaints from the customers. However, the best way to manage all issues beforehand is to opt for legit and reliable casinos from the very beginning.