- Alberta’s regulated online gambling market opened July 13, making it Canada’s second competitive iGaming province after Ontario.
- The Alberta iGaming Corporation counted 22 operator sites live on day one, out of nearly 50 registered with the regulator.
- Each operator paid a $200,000 registration fee, and the government keeps 20 percent of net revenue.
- Alberta forecasts $76 million in gaming revenue in the market’s first year.
EDMONTON — Alberta opened its regulated online gambling market at midnight July 13, becoming the second Canadian province to license a competitive field of private operators and ending Play Alberta’s run as the only legal iGaming site there.
What went live
The Alberta iGaming Corporation reported 22 operator sites live at launch, with FanDuel, BetRivers and Caesars among the day-one brands. Caesars alone brought three platforms online: its sportsbook-and-casino site, Caesars Palace Online Casino and Horseshoe Online Casino.
The list ran short of the roster that had signed up: nearly 50 companies had begun registration with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, meaning most licensed operators were still completing commercial onboarding as the market opened.
That gap is the day-one story. It puts a number on the operator shakeout this site flagged last week: paying the entry fee and clearing the market are two different steps, and roughly 28 of the registered operators had not cleared the second by launch.
How the market is built
Alberta split the job between two bodies, a structure modeled on Ontario’s. The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission regulates the market and registers operators, while the newly created Alberta iGaming Corporation holds the commercial agreements.
Under the province’s iGaming strategy, operators keep 80 percent of net revenue and the government takes 20 percent, with 3 percent of gross gaming revenue carved out for First Nations and responsible-gambling programs before the split.
Each operator paid a $200,000 registration fee to enter.
The province forecasts $76 million in gaming revenue in the market’s first year, according to figures released at launch.
The bet on channelization
Alberta framed the launch as a play for player safety rather than revenue. By the government’s estimate, unregulated operators hold roughly 70 percent of the province’s online gambling market, and the aim is to pull that traffic onto licensed sites with self-exclusion, deposit limits and advertising rules attached.
In remarks to The Canadian Press, Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, said the market “has been about putting players’ safety and player responsibility first” and “never has been” about the money.
Alberta becomes the second Canadian province to open a competitive market for gambling in Canada, after Ontario launched commercial iGaming in April 2022. Ontario’s growth since then has drawn scrutiny alongside its revenue, and Alberta’s early numbers will be measured against both. For provincial detail, the site’s Alberta gambling guide tracks which operators are live.
