At this point, Gambling is completely legal in Canada. Advances in technology have made online casinos a popular pastime in this country, with a player audience of nearly 20 million Canadians. This number of players puts Canada in 8th place in the world for online gambling. According to a report by the Canadian Gaming Association (Canadian Gaming Association.), the industry is responsible for providing 135,000 full-time jobs and is worth more than $15 billion.
The most popular types of gambling
Lotteries are by far the most popular game of chance in Canada, with 50% of the population playing the lottery in the past year. Lotto is at the very bottom of the popularity list, accounting for only 3.1% of the market. Poker and horse betting occupy an equally small percentage at 3.5% and 3.6%, respectively. Right behind lotteries in popularity are scratch tickets and raffles, closely followed by casinos (both physical and online).
Thus. Online gambling is the third most popular Canada. Traditional offline casinos are becoming less and less popular, with all casinos in Canada reporting declining revenues even before the 2020 lockdown. Consequently, the government decided to launch its own online casinos in an attempt to fill the revenue gap.
Casino player demographics
Online casino statistics in Canada are pretty average, Men make up 57% and women 43%.. It is interesting to note that women are more likely to use mobile devices than men. 55% of all women use their phones to gamble. When it comes to age groups, online casinos are most prevalent in the 18-34 age group, accounting for 16% of the total audience. All other age segments are in an equal percentage.
How much does the industry earn?
Total revenue from gambling in Canada last year was $2.65 billion, with more than $1.2 billion coming from the online gambling sector. While this is an impressive figure, it is believed that much of the revenue is lost due to complicated gambling regulation, which states that every gambling provider needs to be licensed by the government. When it comes to per capita spending at online casinos, Canadians spend more than gamblers in the United States and the United Kingdom, an impressive $824.68 per year.
The legality of online casinos
In most cases, gambling is legal across the country, but online casino laws are determined locally by each province. In order to operate legally in Canada, a casino must apply for a license from the local government. Currently, every province has a licensed online casino, with the exception of only 1 region.
Unlicensed offshore operators fall into a grey legal zone and can operate more or less freely in the country. Canadian criminal law states that only traditional casinos are penalized. In other words – unless you physically operate a casino on Canadian soil, you can probably get away with it. There is no law that prohibits Canadians from playing at offshore online casino sites.
The future of the industry.
With the closure of traditional casinos due to the covid-19 pandemic, players around the world are switching to online betting, and Canadians are no different. However, this transition began long before the pandemic. Fast, cheap and nearly universal Internet access and affordable mobile devices have made online gambling accessible to virtually everyone.
For those players who miss the atmosphere of a real physical casino, there is a wide variety of video casinos available online. You can interact with the dealer in real time via streaming video. Looking ahead, we can say that VR technologies will be actively used in this sphere and everything is already moving in this direction, and lockdown only contributes to it.