In some ways, getting the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to pass an online sports betting and iGaming bill was the easy part. Now comes the heavy lifting.
Key takeaways
- Alberta's legislature passed Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, but there's plenty of work left to do and concerns to address.
- Next steps include drafting and implementing regulations to govern Alberta’s new iGaming market, including rules for advertising and responsible gambling.
- A launch date for Alberta’s competitive iGaming market has yet to be set, but could roll out late this year or early next year.
Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, passed third reading in the provincial legislature Wednesday evening in Edmonton. That leaves only the ceremonial step of Royal Assent before it becomes law.
It was always very likely the bill would pass, given Bill 48 is a government proposal and the governing United Conservative Party has a majority of seats in the provincial legislature.
Good chance of Alberta being the only jurisdiction in North America to authorize new forms of online gambling this year (not counting Missouri, that happened in 2024):
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 8, 2025
Alberta iGaming, Sports Betting Bill Passed By Legislature https://t.co/XJ6D9TgtAM @Covers
Now, though, the debate over passing Bill 48 in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta is over. This means Alberta is closer than ever to launching a competitive market for online sports betting and iCasinos, where multiple private-sector operators could come under provincial regulation and launch or re-launch.
Alberta will be the second Canadian province to launch such a market. Ontario was first in April 2022, with the province now authorizing dozens of private-sector operators to offer online sports betting, casino games, poker, and bingo.
There's no limit in Ontario on the number of regulated iGaming operators. There will be no limit in Alberta either.
iGaming Incorporated
However, there's a lot of work to do before the new Alberta sports betting market can go live.
The province must set up a new government corporation, draft and implement new regulations, and put concerned stakeholders at ease.
For starters, Bill 48 says it only comes into force "on Proclamation," which means when the United Conservative government decides to make it happen.
The proclamation will come through an order-in-council from cabinet, which includes Bill 48’s sponsor, Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally.
Bill 48's key provisions have to do with the new “Alberta iGaming Corporation” the legislation establishes. It will be this new entity that makes it possible for Alberta to allow private-sector operators to offer online gambling and yet still maintain enough control to avoid violating Canada’s Criminal Code.
As laid out in the bill, the key duty of the new, government-owned corporation is “to develop, undertake, organize, conduct and manage online lottery schemes on behalf of the Government of Alberta.”
I got three words for ya
The phrase “conduct and manage” is crucial, as the Criminal Code says provinces can conduct and manage “lottery schemes,” another broad term that covers most forms of gambling.
Indeed, a subsequent section of Bill 48 says the new corporation will “ensure that online lottery schemes are developed, undertaken, organized, conducted and managed in accordance with the Criminal Code (Canada) and the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act [of Alberta].”
Ontario uses a similar entity to conduct and manage private operators' iGaming. Those operators sign contracts with that entity, iGaming Ontario, that outline their various responsibilities and obligations to the province.
The contracts require operators to hand over a certain amount of their revenue to the province, which is around 20%. What Alberta takes as its cut remains to be seen, but will have to be worked out before the new iGaming market launches.
So will what that revenue is used for, as Bill 48 states the iGaming corporation has to transfer its surplus funds into the province's general revenue fund at the government's direction.
However, there are concerned stakeholders in Alberta, such as casino-operating First Nations, who worry about what the new iGaming market means for them; it's possible iGaming revenue is shared with some stakeholders.
Ontario's contracts also detail the level of control that iGO has over iGaming operators, such as what games they can offer. This is crucial, as Ontario’s model was challenged in court and ultimately upheld by a judge ruling the province was meeting the “conduct and manage” threshold.
The Ontario ruling helps explain why Alberta chose such a similar path. It’s been tested in court and survived. Alberta could now use similar contracts to show it's still conducting and managing iGaming, even when bettors log onto bet365, DraftKings, and FanDuel-branded apps and sites.
Alberta’s new iGaming Corporation will still need employees, offices and all the things a company requires to function. That's one of the government's next steps, which could appoint as many as seven board members to direct the corporation. The government can also appoint an interim CEO, and then the board can hire a permanent CEO later.
“Should Bill 48 pass, Alberta’s government will begin to work on setting up the Alberta iGaming Corporation, while we continue to meet with stakeholders and work with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis on establishing the broader regulatory framework that includes player protections,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction told Covers earlier this week.
The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission will regulate Alberta’s new iGaming market, which puts it in a unique position.
Not only is the commission going to be the regulator, but it will be a competitor to the operators it oversees. The commission’s Play Alberta platform is currently the only authorized iGaming site in the Western Canadian province.
The official sportsbook of TKTK
Alberta’s regulations will likely include further details about advertising, responsible gambling programs, and integrity monitoring, among other things. Ontario’s standards, for example, restrict the use of athletes and celebrities in iGaming ads and prohibit widespread marketing of gambling inducements like free bets and deposit matches.
Another looming issue will likely be the transition period for “grey market” operators to join the new, regulated market.
One of the reasons for launching the new iGaming market is to channel bettors away from sites the province doesn't regulate toward sites it does. That likely involves more of a “carrot” than “stick” approach, letting operators already active in Alberta (but not provincially regulated) come under provincial regulation and join the new market. Those “grey” operators already account for more than half of all the province's online gambling.
One here for the DFS/poker people wondering what will happen in Alberta when its online gambling market launches:
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) October 18, 2024
Alberta’s Sports Betting, iGaming Market to Pool Liquidity with Ontario’s: Minister https://t.co/7Ke5VixH8x@Covers
In Ontario, there was a gap between the regulated market launching and the cutoff for any operators that still wanted to join that market to cease any unregulated activity. Alberta may not give operators the same sort of leeway.
“What we heard from the operators is that when it was done in Ontario, those companies that came on board on day one were at a disadvantage for the next six months, because those in the grey market had a bit of a ‘Wild West’ approach when it came to advertising,” Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally told Covers last year. “So we're probably going to have a tighter window than they had in Ontario.”
Ontario also dealt with a few other headaches, namely a shutdown of paid daily fantasy contests and a much shallower pool of poker players.
Those issues are connected, as Ontario’s regulations require all iGaming players to be physically present in the province. Ontario treats paid fantasy as gambling as well, which means those who offer it have to register with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and abide by the province’s regulations.
FanDuel-parent Flutter still expecting "an early 2026" launch of a competitive iGaming market in Alberta. That tracks with what we've heard so far from the government there: pic.twitter.com/1Xy47m1q1o
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) May 7, 2025
There's a potential fix on the horizon, but it depends on the outcome of a reference to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
A decision in that matter is still pending, although it could provide legal clarity when it arrives that both Ontario and Alberta could use. For example, Ontario-regulated operators could be allowed to connect DFS and poker players in the province to U.S. rivals, which may help revive paid fantasy and grow poker games.
Whether Alberta has a similar DFS shutdown and a shrinking of its poker scene is unclear. It likely depends on the rules the province uses and will be influenced by the Ontario court ruling, whenever it comes. Nally also said Alberta plans to pool liquidity with Ontario, which could mean Alberta and Ontario-exclusive games.
One thing Alberta wants upfront that Ontario still lacks is a "centralized self-exclusion platform," which would allow gamblers to ban themselves from all sites at once.
"This platform will provide online gamblers who want to take a break from gambling with the ability to block or exclude themselves from being able to access regulated gambling sites in one convenient place, just as Albertans who choose to gamble on Play Alberta or at Alberta’s casinos and racing entertainment centres can already do," Nally said on Wednesday in the legislature.
Lastly, Alberta needs to set a date for when its new iGaming market goes live. Nally has suggested a launch could happen late this year or early next, a view iGaming operators share.
"More details on key regulations and policies related to revenue, consumer protection, and specific social responsibility policies will be shared later this year following further engagement," the minister said on Wednesday.
