Casinos in Canada

Skip To The List of Casinos

Introduction

Gambling in Canada’s land-based casinos is a topic that is both quite interesting and very expansive, with many regulations varying and rules from state to state, regarding this big amount of exciting and luxurious casinos stretching all across the country.

To get a better picture of how these gambling locales fit into the narrative of Canada's provinces, let us talk first about the country itself.

As a country in the North American part of the American continent, Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories, rounding up to thirteen different states.

The country stretches across 9,984,670 square kilometers, encircled by the coasts to the East, North, and West and exiting to the Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean.

Despite its rather massive size, the territory of the country is not densely populated, with only about 40 million inhabitants. The three biggest cities are Toronto in the province of Ontario, Montreal in Quebec, and Vancouver in British Columbia.

The fourth largest city is Ottawa, situated in the southern area of Ontario, which is also the country's capital city, housing about a million and a half people.

These provinces are also the center of tourist activities, either the metropolitan cities themselves or the many attractive landscapes, such as the Rocky Mountains and Niagara Falls.

The country also has many large national parks like Banff National Park (which is also the oldest), Jasper National Park, Kluane National Park and Reserve, and Cape Breton Highlands National Park, all of which attract visitors from all over the globe.

Canada is ethnically and culturally a decently diverse country, with a large number of South Asians, Chinese, and Blacks, as well as many citizens that originate from various European countries, like Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy, and Germany.

Indigenous people of this big and geographically diverse land mass are divided into three main categories, which are Inuit, mostly located in the North, Metis, occupying prairies near Ontario, and First Nations which can be found South of the Arctic.

Now, after this short albeit necessary geography lesson, let us move on to the subject of gambling in this vast and interesting country.

First, of all, is gambling legal in Canada? In broad terms, yes. However, it is a bit more complicated than giving a straightforward answer.

In practice, every land-based casino has to be regulated by the body of law belonging to the province it occupies, as the provincial government is the one that issues licenses to the casinos.

Each violation of this code, and in particular providing gambling activities to the clients while being unlicensed technically falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government, although each province is allowed to enforce its rules and regulations.

The country has around hundred and forty land-based casinos which have been attracting all kinds of punters, from foreign countries, as well as from Canada's own soil.

Some of the most popular ones include Casino Niagara, Camrose Resort Casino, Grand Villa Casino, Casino De Montreal, Falls View Casino Resort, and River Cree Resort and Casino.

History of Gambling

There is a relatively long gambling tradition in Canada that reaches back to the late 19^th century, with the very first casino being opened in 1892 in Niagara Falls.

This gambling locale however was very exclusive and aimed at the people who come from wealth, demanding a rather expensive membership fee.

This exclusive land-based casino was quickly followed by other equally exclusive ones, such as the Quebec Club in Montreal, and Rideau Club in Ottawa.

With the coming of the 20^th century, gambling had started to become more accessible to the general population, and in 1910 in Quebec, the very first government-run lottery appeared to the public.

The biggest change that has shaped the way casinos operate in this country, lasting to today, happened in the 1970’s, when the introduction of proper licenses began to appear.

Casinos continue to grow strong and expand throughout the country, inviting players from all over the world and making good profits for Canada. It is estimated that in 2022, land-based casinos have made a significant revenue of 5 billion Canadian dollars.

For a long time now, out of all the provinces, Ontario has been unofficially labeled as the gambling capital of Canada, being the most popular destination for punters.

Legislation and Jurisdiction

As we have already mentioned, when it comes to the jurisdiction of regulating gambling activities in Canada, each province works under its own legal and regulatory body.

So, in the case of Alberta that would be the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), in the case of Ontario, regulations come from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), and so on.

All of these provinces, while having the power to work independently of each other still fall under the federal law and its Criminal Code.

In practice, this means that some universal laws are attributed across the entire country that have to be adhered to.

Some of those laws include the types of games that are prohibited to be played while betting all across Canada with no exception, such as the three-card monte, coin table, and punch board.

Popular Sports & Games

Considering the massive number of casinos situated in the country of Canada, the selection of casino games that can be found at these locales is unsurprisingly vast and versatile.

Naturally, there are plenty of slot machines with a high return to player (RTP), and these have become one of the most popular gambling activities for the gamblers of the country.

Poker machines are also quite inviting to Canadian punters, as well as classic table games such as craps and roulette.

Among the card games, one of the most frequently played is Caribbean stud poker, followed by pai-gow poker, blackjack, and baccarat.

The country also has plenty of sportsbooks and sports betting is a common activity, especially in the provinces like Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.

The two most popular sports that the locals regularly bet on include the Canadian Football League (LFC) and National Hockey League (NHL).

Banking

Canada allows all kinds of banking methods from internationally accepted credit and debit cards such as Visa and MasterCard to the plethora of various e-wallets. Nevertheless, we will name some of the most popular ones here.

In terms of banking services, PayPal and Canada-originating Interac e-Transfer are two of the most often used ones. Throughout the years, e-wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay have started to become a more common means of payment, especially the latter.

Lastly, gambling with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Tether, etc. has become one of the favorite ways of depositing and wagering by Canadian gamblers, and most casinos in Canada fully support the use of virtual currencies.

To Conclude

We have provided you with a thorough overview of gambling at some of the many land-based casinos that can be found on Canadian soil, aiming to bring closer the history, laws, and most popular gambling activities to you by doing so.

Now, it is up to you to grab your bags and suitcases and visit this country to enjoy its beautiful nature, immerse yourself in the busy metropolitan cities, and test your skills and luck playing your favorite games at lavish casinos.