Are Offshore Gambling Sites Legal in Canada?

This guide sets out what the law actually says for operators and for players. It covers what a Kahnawà:ke licence is and how it compares to Ontario’s and Alberta’s regulators, what you give up by playing on an unregulated site, and how to check a site in two minutes. It does not recommend any gambling site.

What section 207 of the Criminal Code allows

Part VII of the Criminal Code, in sections including 201, 202 and 206, creates gaming, betting and lottery offences. Section 207 then carves out exceptions, “notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Part relating to gaming and betting”. Section 207(1)(a) says it is lawful:

“for the government of a province, either alone or in conjunction with the government of another province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province … in accordance with any law enacted by the legislature of that province”

Paragraphs (1)(b) to (d) let charitable or religious organizations, fair and exhibition boards, and public places of amusement run lottery schemes under provincial licence or designation, and paragraphs (e) and (f) cover interprovincial ticket sales and cross-province licensing. But s. 207(4)(c) excludes games “operated on or through a computer, video device, slot machine or a dice game” from paragraphs (1)(b) to (f). (A narrow exception, s. 207(4.1), lets charitable raffles such as 50/50 draws use a computer.) As a result, online casino games can only be lawful through the province itself, under s. 207(1)(a).

That is why each province’s legal online gambling is either run by its lottery corporation or conducted and managed by a provincial agency working with private operators. Ontario uses the second model: according to the AGCO, iGaming Ontario is “responsible for conducting and managing igaming when provided through private operators”, while the AGCO regulates the market.

What falls outside s. 207: any online casino, poker or sports-betting site that isn’t conducted and managed by a province. The Code doesn’t authorize these sites. No court decision we found settles how far it reaches operators running them from abroad. That includes sites licensed in other countries and sites licensed only in Kahnawà:ke.

Players vs operators: what the statute says

The Criminal Code has offences for people who run gambling and, separately, for people who take part. Here are the relevant provisions, quoted from the Justice Laws website:

Two points are clear from the text:

1. The Code does contain player offences. It isn’t accurate to say the law only applies to operators.
2. The heavier penalties fall on operators. The player offences above are summary conviction offences only. The operator offences can also be prosecuted as indictable offences carrying up to two years’ imprisonment.

Section 201(2)(a) also makes it an offence to be “found, without lawful excuse, in a common gaming house”. A common gaming house is a physical “place” under the Code’s definitions in s. 197, and we found no source applying that offence to someone playing online from home, so it isn’t listed above.

The statute doesn’t tell you how often, or whether, police and prosecutors charge individual players who use foreign websites. We don’t speculate about that. If you need advice about your own situation, speak to a lawyer.

What a Kahnawà:ke licence is, and how it compares to the AGCO and AGLC

The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (KGC) is the gaming regulator of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke, near Montréal. In its own words:

• It was established on June 10, 1996, under the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Law, and has regulated online gaming since July 8, 1999. That was the date it enacted its Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming.
• It licenses online casino, poker and sportsbook operators. Online operators it licenses “must be hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, a data centre located within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke”.
• It says its authority “is a facet of the sovereign rights Kahnawà:ke has as a community of Indigenous peoples to govern its own affairs”, and that this jurisdiction “does not rely on the approval of any other jurisdiction or agency.”

So a KGC-licensed site is not necessarily “offshore” in a geographic sense. The legal question is whose system it belongs to. The provinces’ position comes from s. 207, which gives the “conduct and manage” role to provincial governments. The KGC’s FAQ puts the history this way: “In 1985, Canada sold its jurisdiction to ‘conduct and manage’ gaming to the Provinces of Canada for $100,000,000.” That is the KGC’s characterization, and the provinces don’t share its conclusion: Ontario and Alberta both require operators serving their residents to be registered with the provincial regulator, and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has upheld the Ontario model (see below).

The two provinces with open, licensed online markets are explicit about who may serve their residents:

A KGC permit is not an AGCO registration or an AGLC registration. A site that holds only a Kahnawà:ke licence is not part of Ontario’s or Alberta’s regulated market.

The disagreement has also gone to court. On November 28, 2022, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke filed an application in the Ontario Superior Court against iGaming Ontario and the Attorney General of Ontario. According to the KGC’s notice, it challenges “the legality and constitutionality of Ontario’s unilateral re-interpretation of the ‘conduct and manage’ provisions of the Criminal Code”. The same notice says the application “has no impact on the KGC’s operations.”

The court dismissed that application on May 13, 2024. According to iGaming Ontario’s announcement of the decision (2024 ONSC 2726), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that iGaming Ontario’s model “is consistent with the Criminal Code” and that iGaming Ontario is the “operating mind” behind Ontario’s igaming market, in accordance with the Code’s “conduct and manage” requirements. Trade press (Canadian Gaming Business, May 22, 2024) reported that the MCK would not appeal; we could not independently confirm that from a primary source.

What you give up on an unregulated site

Leaving the question of criminal liability aside, the practical consequences are concrete.

1. No provincial complaint route. The AGCO and AGLC take complaints about the sites they regulate. The AGCO’s complaint form asks for the “name of the regulated gaming site” and tells players to check iGaming Ontario’s website “to see if we regulate your igaming provider”. Both regulators are blunt even about regulated sites: a complaint to them “won’t resolve your dispute” and they “can’t get your money back”. What they can do is issue “warnings, suspensions or monetary penalties” to a regulated operator. An unregulated site is outside that lever. For example, the AGCO issued Casino Days’ operator, Well Played Media, a $54,000 monetary penalty in June 2025 alleging a deceptive, high-risk welcome bonus, and penalized Betty Gaming $120,000 in August 2026 after underage people created and funded accounts. Every AGCO action is listed with a link to its notice in our regulator fines tracker.

2. Provincial self-exclusion doesn’t reach it. In Ontario, iGaming Ontario says you “can use BetGuard to opt out of all regulated online gambling in Ontario”. AGLC’s program lets Albertans exclude themselves from “all registered iGaming platforms”, from land-based casinos, or from both. Both cover only regulated or registered platforms. If you have self-excluded, an offshore site isn’t bound by that exclusion.

3. Payment and withdrawal risk. The AGCO lists the risks of unregulated sites:

• “Game transparency is not required.”
• “Payouts may not be timely or accurate and could be withheld or delayed.”
• “Your personal information and data may not be secured and your data could be exposed to third parties or the public without your consent.”

In May 2026, AGCO chief executive Dr. Karin Schnarr said unregulated sites give players “no assurance of fair games, timely withdrawals, or access to meaningful dispute resolution.”

4. Different rules, set elsewhere. A KGC-licensed site answers to Kahnawà:ke’s regulations, not provincial standards. The KGC runs its own dispute resolution. Its conditions: “Player complaints need to be submitted to the licence holder/website for review prior to being submitted to the KGC”. It “reserve[s] the right to cease our investigation and invalidate your complaint” if the complaint “has been discussed on any public forum” or shared with the media. Its self-exclusion covers only KGC-licensed sites, and it is “PERMANENT AND IRREVOCABLE”.

Enforcement: how Ontario goes after the unregulated market

The AGCO’s lever is the companies it registers. It acts against regulated suppliers that feed the unregulated market.

• May 7, 2026: two game suppliers fined $40,000 each. The AGCO issued Orders of Monetary Penalties to Relax Gaming Limited and Arrise Solutions Limited. An investigation “found games created by these companies were available on unregulated gambling websites accessible to Ontario players.” Both companies are AGCO-registered suppliers. The AGCO said it “prohibits companies operating in the regulated iGaming market from offering their products to unregulated gaming websites available to Ontario players” and “monitors the market for regulated entities supplying the unregulated sector.” Both companies cooperated and restricted Ontario access to their games.

Geolocation is also enforced on regulated sites, but allegations are not findings. In October 2024 the AGCO issued NorthStar Gaming $30,000 in penalties, $10,000 of it over alleged access to its site from outside Ontario. In December 2024 the AGCO withdrew that $10,000 after confirming NorthStar did not violate Standard 3.02 (games offered only within Ontario); NorthStar paid the remaining $20,000, which was for not responding on time to the Registrar’s requests for information.

How to check whether a site is regulated in your province

Ontario

• Search iGaming Ontario’s directory of regulated sites. On September 1, 2026, it listed 49 operators and 84 gaming websites. Our Ontario operators tracker follows the same register.
• Look for the iGaming Ontario logo. The AGCO calls it “a sign that you’re playing on a site that is being conducted and managed by iGaming Ontario”.
• OLG.ca is also legal. It is run by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation rather than through iGaming Ontario.
• You must be 19 or older and physically in Ontario to place a wager.

Alberta

• Search AGLC’s list of registered entities, or see our Alberta registered operators tracker.
• According to AGLC, “The Alberta iGaming Corporation logo will be easily identifiable on advertising material for approved operators.”

Other provinces

• British Columbia: PlayNow.com, “operated by British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)”.
• Manitoba: PlayNow Manitoba, “Manitoba’s official online gaming site, operated by Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries”.
• Saskatchewan: PlayNow Saskatchewan, “Saskatchewan’s official online gaming site, operated by Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority”.
• Quebec: Loto-Québec’s online games at lotoquebec.com.
• Atlantic provinces: Atlantic Lottery’s online games at alc.ca.

Anywhere in Canada, a site with only a foreign licence or a Kahnawà:ke licence is not your province’s regulated option.

What changed recently

• July 13: Alberta’s regulated market opened. AGLC says that as of July 13 “all operators must be registered with AGLC and have signed a commercial agreement with the Alberta iGaming Corporat[ion].” Our Alberta launch tracker follows the rollout.
• June 2026: KGC and Six Nations sign a new agreement. The KGC and the Six Nations Gaming Commission signed a memorandum of understanding. It affirms that the SNGC will enact online and land-based gaming regulations “informed by and compatible with the KGC’s regulations”.
• May 7, 2026: the AGCO fines two suppliers. Relax Gaming and Arrise Solutions were fined for games found on unregulated sites, as described above.

If you want to stop, or need help

• Self-exclude: use BetGuard in Ontario and AGLC’s Self-Exclusion Program in Alberta. BCLC’s PlayNow in British Columbia offers its Game Break self-exclusion program, and the PlayNow sites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan also point players to voluntary self-exclusion. Elsewhere, ask your provincial lottery corporation about its program. Regulated operators must offer their own tools too. In Ontario, the minimum is spend limits, time limits, short breaks and self-exclusion.
• Free, confidential help lines:

Every number above is checked against its official source in our help lines guide, which also covers services for families and debt advice.

This guide explains the law and regulators’ published positions. It is not legal advice. We don’t link to or recommend any gambling site. Last reviewed September 30, 2026.