Extra Ontarians are sticking with authorized on-line playing web sites, based on a brand new Ipsos survey commissioned by the Alcohol and Gaming Fee of Ontario and iGaming Ontario.
The study discovered that 91.1% of individuals in Ontario who gamble on-line now use regulated gaming platforms licensed within the province. It is a leap of seven.4 proportion factors from the earlier yr. In the meantime, the share of gamers utilizing solely unregulated playing web sites dropped to eight.9%, in contrast with 16.3% a yr earlier.
The findings arrive 4 years after Ontario launched its aggressive on-line gaming market in April 2022. Earlier than the province created the regulated system, officers estimated that roughly 70% of on-line playing exercise occurred on offshore or unlicensed websites.
Ontario’s market requires operators to fulfill requirements tied to accountable playing, info safety, sport integrity, and participant protections. Regulators have repeatedly warned that unregulated platforms could expose gamers to fraud, cash laundering dangers, and weak client safeguards.
“This improve in Ontarians selecting regulated igaming websites proves that we’ve taken the proper method to responsibly increasing the web gaming market,” stated Stan Cho, Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Tradition and Gaming. “By prioritizing participant protections and embedding accountable gaming instruments into the market, our authorities is dedicated to offering a safer expertise for gamers throughout the province.”
Ontario regulators proceed tightening oversight regardless of pushing regulated playing market
Officers say the province is continuous to construct out client safety instruments because the market grows. Ontario has been developing a centralized self-exclusion system that will permit gamers to dam themselves throughout a number of playing operators via a single course of as an alternative of opting out website by website.
On the identical time, a number of court docket rulings have strengthened Ontario’s authority over on-line playing exercise related to the province. Current selections involving Loto-Québec and offshore operators examined how gambling services offered throughout provincial and worldwide borders must be regulated. One other Ontario Court docket of Enchantment ruling discovered that online gambling businesses serving customers outside Canada may nonetheless face authorized scrutiny in Ontario.
“It’s encouraging to see increasingly Ontarians selecting regulated websites once they gamble on-line,” stated Karin Schnarr, chief govt officer and registrar on the AGCO. “This continued shift displays the power of Ontario’s mannequin and its deal with defending gamers. The AGCO stays dedicated to addressing the residual unlawful market and making certain regulated operators meet Ontario’s robust regulatory requirements.”
The most recent numbers additionally present enchancment from earlier surveys. An Ipsos report launched in 2024 discovered that 86.4% of Ontarians who gambled on-line had used regulated websites, whereas a 2025 examine confirmed that determine had slipped to 83.7%.
Ontario’s on-line gaming sector has expanded shortly since legalization, with dozens of licensed operators now energetic throughout the province. Regulators nonetheless acknowledge that some gamers proceed utilizing each authorized and unregulated platforms.
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