After weeks of rumors and speculations, Alberta’s regulated iGaming and sports betting market has an official launch date, and it’s July 13, 2026.
The date was revealed in a letter sent to the stakeholders by Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally, as reported by Covers and Gaming News Canada.
The letter stated that further steps will be needed before the competitive market goes fully live, and that a number of operators expressed they would need additional time to comply with the various responsibilities of their contracts.
Nelly assured the stakeholders that the future of iGaming in Alberta is bright and that the contracts between Alberta iGaming Corp and the operators will be drafted by mid-April in preparation for the upcoming launch.
Alberta Looks to Mimic the Ontario iGaming Market
July 13 will be a big day for the online gambling industry of Alberta and Canada, as Alberta becomes only the second Canadian province to allow the regulation of privately owned sportsbooks and iGaming operators.
With this move, Alberta will move away from the rest of the Canadian provinces, which grant legal monopolies to provincial lotteries, and follow in the footsteps of Ontario, whose competitive iGaming market has been thriving since 2022.
The move toward a regulated iGaming market should allow the Alberta government to oversee the operations and tax the revenue of major operators in the province.
As things currently stand, over 70% of all online gambling in Alberta happens via unregulated offshore gaming sites, which accept action from Alberta, but don’t pay taxes or adhere to any provincial regulations.
The introduction of provincial oversight and taxation will aim to move much of the traffic from unregulated to regulated sites, improve responsible gambling standards, and create a unified regulated market.
Since launching the regulated iGaming market in April 2022, Ontario has been able to move approximately 80% of all online gambling action to locally-regulated sites, and the Alberta authorities will be hoping to copy this success in their own backyard.
Up to 50 Operators Are Looking for Licenses
According to the most recent AGLC estimates, approximately 50 operators have expressed interest in obtaining an operating license in Alberta, and many of those will be looking to launch this summer.
Once launched, the newly-regulated iGaming market will expand Alberta’s offer of legal online gambling options from just one to a few dozen, with operators like FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, bet365, and theScore Bet all looking to launch their products.
All operators who currently operate in Alberta’s “grey” market will have until July 13 to cease all operations in the Canadian province and pay their licensing fees for the transition to the new regulated model.
Operators who are able to demonstrate they were unable to reach full compliance by July 13 may receive a three-month extension, until October 13, to fully comply with the new rules and regulations.
Any operators who fail to adhere to this warning may find themselves unsuitable for iGaming registration in Alberta, and could lose the right to receive a gaming license in perpetuity.
Operators who never offered their services in Alberta, such as Caesars and theScore Bet, have already been approved to accept pre-registrations from the players, but real money deposits and bets will only be allowed after July 13.
International Liquidity for Online Poker and DFS Still Pending
One major question for Alberta online poker and DFS players is whether or not operators will be allowed to share their liquidity beyond provincial borders and internationally like other operators offering online poker in Canada outside of Ontario.
A recent decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal concluded that Ontario online poker operators could legally share their player pools internationally, but the decision has been moved on to the Supreme Court, following appeals from multiple provincial gaming regulators.
AGLC has expressed interest in this case as well, as the final decision will set a legal precedent and potentially impact the future of peer-to-peer gaming for Alberta’s regulated operators as well.
As things stand, AGLC continues to monitor the case closely, and its future position on the matter will likely depend on the final decision by the Supreme Court in the Ontario case.
For the time being, any online poker sites that launch in Alberta may only allow play within a fenced-off market, with future mergers with Ontario or international player pools pending further legal developments.
