The Ontario online poker market just reported one of its highest months for online poker revenue in its four-year history.
According to figures released by iGaming Ontario, the market’s regulator, poker operators in the province generated C$6.9 million in revenue (USD $5.1 million) in March, the latest month reported.
This is the second highest month since the market opened in April 2022. The only one to beat it was March 2024, which hit C$7.1 million.
The market was also up 4.5% on the same month a year ago. So far this year, C$18.2 million has been made by operators at the Ontario online poker tables, 7% higher than the same period in 2025.
It shows a market that’s looking very healthy, despite it now being a mature four-year industry kept entirely segregated from the rest of the online poker world.
And it also bodes well for the next big shake-up in online poker in Canada: The launch of regulated online gaming in Alberta. This will go live in just two months’ time. It is still unclear exactly what this will mean for online poker in Alberta, but hopefully, sites will be able to connect their player pools with sites in Ontario.
The Ontario market follows a curious pattern: March is historically the best month of the year, a phenomenon that has occurred every year except 2025 (when August just exceeded it). Of the top five months in market history, three have been in March.
It is not clear exactly why this occurs. The most likely reason is Canada’s tax season: Taxes can be filed from the end of February, with tax refunds issued a couple of weeks later. This is often non-trivial as the way tax on bonuses is calculated results in more being withheld than is actually owed. It can be quite a windfall for white-collar workers.
However, one might expect that to also show up in market traffic data — but that’s not the case. According to figures tracked by SharkScope and available on the PRO DB platform, the market follows the traditional trajectory of the online poker market observed in Europe: A peak in January, when the weather is at its worst, declining into summer, with the lowest point occurring between June and October. March is a good month, but a marked dip from January and February.
So if the tax rebate theory were to be true, it would mean players are playing higher stakes and bigger tournaments, but not increasing their volume (which is what these charts describe).
Another reason could be a big uptick in qualifiers to live events. GGPoker, the market leader in Ontario with an estimated 50% market share, has in the past run satellites for WSOP Toronto, a hugely successful circuit event. In the past, this ran in mid-April and so a spurt of activity in March — a month before the event when a full satellite schedule would be underway — would make a lot of sense.
However, this year there’s no WSOP Circuit event in Toronto in April, and there were no online qualifiers. It is unclear whether it will return later this year. Instead, there were qualifiers for WSOP Montreal, the first event of which ran March 23 to April 7, so that may go some way to explaining it.
We reached out to GGPoker to ask for any insight they could provide on the March phenomenon in Ontario. Their statement hints at online qualifiers but didn’t provide any specifics.
“As the market leader in Ontario, GGPoker continues to focus on providing the entire poker community with the best possible gaming experience,” reads the statement. We “know that Ontario players love live action as much as online, so we believe a core reason for GGPoker’s strength in the province over the past year is that we offer exclusive satellite paths for players aiming for WSOP Circuit glory at venues across Canada.”
Regardless of the reason, it is very welcome to see a mature market still showing growth. And the addition of Alberta — if liquidity sharing is permitted — should easily add another 25% to player pool sizes.
It has now been confirmed that both BetMGM and FanDuel have applied for licenses in Alberta. BetMGM Poker Ontario operates on a poker network with bwin and PartyPoker, and is expected to expand into Alberta if it can share liquidity. PokerStars is currently transitioning to a PokerStars-FanDuel Ontario hybrid and will do the same.
And the two markets could attract new operators too. BetRivers offers online casino and sports betting in Ontario and will do the same in Alberta. It may be motivated to launch its world-class online poker platform BetRivers Poker in the two provinces if shared liquidity is available.
The Alberta online gaming market will launch on July 13, 2026.
