Alberta is one step closer to legalizing online gambling as the iGaming Alberta Act has passed third reading in the provincial legislature on Tuesday.
More specifically, Bill 48 of the iGaming Alberta Act passed without any amendments, with the United Conservative Party having a majority of the vote. The last stop before the Bill is turned into law is Royal Assent.
If passed, which is very likely, Bill 48 will see the creation of the Alberta iGaming Corporation, which will be tasked to oversee regulated online gambling activity in the region, with a special emphasis on responsible gambling and user protection.
Moreover, the bill would appoint the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) agency as the official regulator, whereas it will proceed to oversee PlayAlberta, the only legal and regulated website for online casino and sports betting in the province.
The Alberta iGaming Corporation will be governed by a seven-member board of directors, which is going to be appointed directly by the Minister of Service Alberta and Dale Nally from Red Tape Reduction.
The upcoming Alberta market is expected to go live in early 2026, and if all goes according to plan, it will become the second Canadian province after Ontario to launch a competitive sector that is based on the principles of user protection and regulations.
One of the biggest challenges that the next market faces, after Royal Assent, is determining the tax rate. This is why it is very likely that the province will turn to Ontario’s example, which went live in April 2022 and has a tax rate of 20%
Ron Segev, Founder of Segev LLP, commented on this exciting development and said that the Alberta market has the potential to become a billion-dollar industry in its first year:
Alberta can be a billion-dollar industry at the end of Year 1 if it’s managed properly, and it’s a truly open market with a regime that will allow the operators to advertise freely, although responsibly.
Looking at the Ontario market, which saw CAD $82.7 billion in wagers and CAD $3.2 billion in gross gaming revenue for Fiscal Year 2024/25, 31% and 32% increases, respectively, over 2023-24, Segev added that while it may not reach the numbers of Ontario due to the lesser population, it will definitely do that in terms of percentage growth:
It’s not going to be the same exact numbers just because of the populations at hand, but in terms of the percentage growth, I think we can expect the same, possibly more. Data is showing us that Albertan players tend to have higher player values … more of them [bet] at higher amounts.
From here, there is already a list of top-tier operators that have shown interest in applying for the Alberta license, including DraftKings, PointsBet Canada, NorthStar, FanDuel, and BetRivers, all of which are going to compete with PlayAlberta.
