There’s been a misconception around the world that online gambling is illegal. This is not believed to be the case with offshore countries that offer online casinos, but there are other countries like Canada and the US where this is the case. Where does this conception come from? Well, in Canada like in the US, online casinos cannot be licensed. Meaning, that they cannot operate out of that country. It’s a misconception, because while it’s not legal to setup an online casino in Canada, there is no problem with Canadian players joining online casinos, but they will always be international ones.
It’s important for players to understand that even as Canadians, there are options to
play online roulette and other games that they prefer. Finding an online casino that accepts Canadians is not a big challenge. US players might be banned from many online casinos, but Canadians are accepted at many, and quite a large number of online casinos even offer Canadian currency.
While Canadian players are widely accepted at
online roulette casinos, the issue still remains that casinos cannot be licensed in the country. Though, there is one small exception to the rule; since 1999 Khanawake, a native reserve in Quebec has been allowed to operate online casinos under a license. No other provinces in Canada offer licensing for online casinos, and without licensing it’s illegal to operate. As a result, there just aren’t any others for online casino players in Canada to try out.
That might not sound like a big deal, but online casinos are a huge industry. It’s been estimated that people in Canada spend approximately $1 billion per year playing at international online casinos. At a time when Canada’s economy has been hurting, this could create a much stronger industry to bring income and jobs into the country. Fortunately, there are some provinces trying to introduce these changes to bring the casino industry online to the country. Earlier this year, Quebec decided to start talking about extending licensing to the rest of the province, not just Khanawake. Manitoba has been engaging in similar chats in order to allow online casinos to operate there legally.
By opening online casinos in Canada, the industry could remain at home. While there might be many international casinos that take US players, they are then forced to spend their hard-earned money on a foreign economy. By introducing it at home, the choice wouldn’t need to be a difficult one; players could play at casinos based in their own countries.
Of course, with more jobs opening up, there could be a whole new industry for people to work in, which at a time when Canada is still recovering from the recession is much needed. No timeline has been provided for the provincial decisions, but hopefully in the near future there will be options for Canadian players to play at Canadian casinos!
