Ontario and Alberta, the only two Canadian provinces with regulated commercial online gaming markets, have been fighting a legal battle to get approval to go outside provincial borders and create a shared player pool.

There are two goals that both provinces want to achieve. The first (and an easier-to-obtain) target is for Ontario and Alberta to be allowed to combine their players, much like regulated US states do through the MSIGA. The second, a significantly more far-fetched goal, is to get approval for province-regulated operators to accept international players.

The case has been ongoing for some time now, and one of the most recent developments saw Counsel for Alberta’s Attorney General issuing a statement that they intend to present oral arguments during a hearing scheduled for October 7 to fight the appeal seeking to block international player pooling.

Standing Against the Rest of the Country

Ontario was the first province to create regulated online poker in Canada and general igaming open to commercial operators. Alberta followed suit, launching its own regulated market under very similar rules back in July.

While Ontario, with its 16 million people, is a fairly large market in its own right, Alberta only has about a third of that number. The size of the market is particularly important for prospects of online poker in Alberta, as we are still to see any operators set up shop in the province.

So, it comes as no surprise that Alberta is particularly eager to join its player pool with Ontario, and both provinces would love the ability to accept international players. That setup would bring more revenue and would make acquiring licenses a much more appetizing business proposal for the operators.

Both ideas have made some headway. Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in November 2025 that the province can legally allow its players to compete with international participants, provided Ontario retains full control over the operation.

This could have been a major development, but the progress was halted by multiple appeals coming from lottery operators from other provinces such as British Columbia and Manitoba. This moved the matter to the Supreme Court, where the hearing is set to take place on October 7.

Major Gaming Companies Backing Shared Liquidity

Allowing international players onto Alberta- and Ontario-regulated sites would be a major development and one that could shape the future of online poker over the next few years. So, it comes as no surprise that two companies that hold a major share of the international market are very interested in how things will play out.

Flutter, the company behind the PokerStars on FanDuel brand, and NSUS, the GGPoker owner that recently acquired a license to operate in Alberta, are strongly behind the idea of international player pooling.

The original court decision from last year gives hope that things could go in the right direction for Ontario online poker players as well as those in Alberta. However, once operators start accepting players from outside of Canada, there are many technical difficulties they would have to overcome to stay within the legal scope.

Ontario Court of Appeal made that distinction clear, emphasizing that the province must retain control over the gaming operation. The question that still needs to be answered is what that actually means in practice. Some of the aspects that will have to be assessed are player protection requirements, regulatory oversight, and operational controls.

It is unlikely that any actual decisions will be made on October 7, but the arguments presented by both sides will have an important impact on the final verdict.