iGaming firms hoping Ontario will lift operator ban

[The Buzz]

Ontario’s online gaming industry is anticipating the provincial government will move ahead soon with regulatory changes to allow private operators into the market when Canada’s most populous province unveils a new budget on 5 November.

According to a Bloomberg article, operators say they hope online gambling will be at least referenced, and high on the priority list soon after.

From the article:

An expansion of online gambling would generate new revenue for the government at a time when spending and deficits are soaring because of the pandemic. It would also fulfill a pledge Premier Doug Ford made in last year’s provincial budget to “establish a competitive market for online legal gambling.”

The province currently allows only online gambling run by government-owned Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp. Last year, the province’s finance department estimated that most of the C$500 million ($375 million) Ontario residents spend on online gambling flows to gray market websites.

“There’s a tremendous benefit to bringing this out of the shadows and into the forefront and take advantage of this regulatory change that will protect consumers and bring revenue to the government,” said Paul Burns, chief executive officer of the Canadian Gaming Association. “It will also be a very strong economic driver to the industry to get companies to locate and operate here.”

Legalized online gambling in Ontario would generate about C$547 million in annual revenue after five years, said James Kilsby, a Washington-based analyst at Vixio GamblingCompliance, a company that provides regulatory intelligence to the gambling industry.
How much that adds to Ontario’s coffers depends on the tax rate that’s applied. Most European countries tax online gambling at 15% to 25% of gross revenue, he said.

In the longer term, there’s also potential to cash in on single-event sports betting, currently prohibited under Canadian criminal law. If that type of gambling were legalized, revenue would swell to C$1.47 billion for Ontario, Kilsby said. Single-event sports betting would require legislative change by the federal government.

Ontario, which has a population larger than all but four U.S. states, “would be another landmark opportunity in North America” if Canada were to liberalize sports betting, he said.

Read the article here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...y-operator-ban

[Cash Bonus]

Hopefully, this positive news will actually come to pass. Our industry already has too many painful restrictions placed on it and it's suffered enough.

[casinobonusguy]

I doubt with Covid numbers they are worried about that situation and as somebody living in Ontario and enjoying tax free winnings I would not be changing my betting habits anytime soon