CALGARY — As Alberta prepares to legalize regulated third-party online gambling as of Monday, one industry expert claims the move is the next step in the evolution of the iGaming and sports betting market."Sports betting has been legal in Canada for decades, but it's the type of sports betting that's been permitted to be offered that's really evolved over the past few years," said Geoff Zochodne, a senior news analyst for Covers.com. Their evolution began in 2018, after a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down regulations that prevented sports betting outside of Las Vegas paved the way for leagues to soften their opposition against the industry, culminating in Canada's government lifting its roadblocks to single-game betting in 2021. The federal government's decision gave provincial governments the power to regulate such betting and charged each jurisdiction with establishing laws governing the industry within its region. All provinces initially opted for a government-controlled market in which only government-controlled iGaming websites, such as Play Alberta, could legally operate. .Zochodne claims the government opted for a provincially controlled model for numerous reasons, including an easy transition and the unproven nature of third-party iGaming operation in Canada. "Just giving Play Alberta that ability, you know, that's it's a it's a bit of a no-brainer because they can just go right to market with it," Zochodne said. "They can make a few tweaks to their sportsbook, and then they're good to go." Ontario initiated the third-party venture in 2022, when the government opened the door for businesses to operate within the province under regulatory oversight. According to Zochodne, Alberta and other provinces soon began exploring similar shifts, largely because "grey-area" laws already allowed offshore regulated third-party iGaming businesses to operate in Canada."If we could shut the black market and online gambling down, we would, but the fact is that the online gambling industry has been alive and well in Canada for many years," said Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally in an interview with the Western Standard in March.Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis reported $234.9 million in sales for Play Alberta in 2024, but they also projected that this represents only about 30% of Alberta's iGaming market. .Explorations were put on hold, however, when a First Nation sued the Ontario government, claiming that federal laws allowed provincial governments, not third-party businesses, to "conduct and manage" gaming."If the court had ruled against Ontario, it would have really undone the iGaming scheme that they put in place," Zochodne said. Ontario's Superior Court shut down the argument in 2024, though, when it rejected the lawsuit and determined that Ontario's legislation gives the government's iGaming agency sufficient operational control over the industry. Zochodne says the court's decision provided assurance that similar systems are legal and helped address Alberta's concerns that government-regulated third-party iGaming markets are unproven. The shift in Alberta was not instantaneous, though.."Things were kind of moving pretty quickly, and the provincial government decided that they wanted to pass legislation that would really outline what it is they wanted to do," Zochodne said, regarding Alberta's third-party iGaming legislation development. Premier Danielle Smith's government ultimately passed the iGaming Alberta Act in May 2025, designating the AGLC as the regulator, and then spent over eight months developing the market's regulations. "Ontario's framework is seen as pretty, you know, legally sound at least for now," Zochodne said. "That is what Alberta is modelling its market after.""There are some made-in-Alberta, kind of, tweaks to it that are specific to the province that kind of reflect the provincial government's, you know, understanding that you know it's Alberta and Ontario are not identical." One such difference is that while it took Ontario over three years after launch to institute a system-wide self-exclusion network that allows individuals to uniformly block themselves from all iGaming platforms, Alberta is implementing one when the market opens on Monday. Nally has boasted about their decision to immediately include system-wide self-exclusion. "That means if any Albertan says, 'Okay, that's it. I'm done,' they're gonna be able to push a button that will exclude them from online gambling sites," Nally said in March. "It'll exclude them from land-based casinos and racing entertainment centers in the province of Alberta, and it's going to make it very difficult for them to be able to gamble.".Despite government regulations, the fact that iGaming and sports betting are already legal, the existence of non-government operations in Alberta, and the fact that Albertans are already bombarded by gambling ads across media platforms, Zochodne says Albertans will still see differences. Third-party gambling ads will also expand from only on screens to become integrated with other on-the-ground promotions or billboards individuals see across Alberta.Additionally, industry giants like Caesars, FanDuel, DraftKings, and other market players will debut in Alberta on Monday, opening the door for Albertans to participate on the iGaming websites often pushed across the sports universe. "All I would say is, for Albertans, when you're making up your mind with who you want to play with, you have a lot of different places to go, and so, take your time, take a look at what's on offer, then decide what's right for you," Zochodne said.
