Is Online Gambling Legal in the NWT?

Key takeaways

• Lottery is the only legal online option. The WCLC sells single-draw tickets for games like LOTTO 6/49, LOTTO MAX and DAILY GRAND through its Lotto Spot! app, and you have to be inside the WCLC region to buy. The NWT is part of that region.
• There is no NWT-licensed online casino. Canadian law lets a province or territory’s government “conduct and manage” lottery schemes, and it bars charities and other licensees from running games on a computer, so in our reading online gambling has to be run by government. We found no online casino, online slots or online poker product on the NWT government, NWT & Nunavut Lotteries or WCLC websites.
• The age is 18 for lottery and 19 for casino areas. WCLC says the Lotto Spot! app is for residents aged 18 and older. Under NWT regulations, nobody under 19 may be in the casino area of a licensed charity casino event. Free, confidential help is available by calling 811 or 1-844-259-1793, 24 hours a day.

Who runs lotteries in the NWT?

There are three layers, and each does a different job.

Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC). The WCLC is a non-profit that runs lottery and gaming activities for its members, the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut take part as associate members. WCLC markets the national games (DAILY GRAND, LOTTO MAX, LOTTO 6/49) with the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation. It also offers regional games, including WESTERN 649, WESTERN MAX, LIGHTNING LOTTO, POKER LOTTO and ALL IN, EXTRA, PICK 2/3/4, KENO, Scratch & Win, and the sports games SPORT SELECT, POOLS and FUTURES. WCLC says it returns its revenue to the provinces and territories where its products are sold.

Northwest Territories & Nunavut Lotteries. This is the local lottery office. It runs the prize claim office at 480 Range Lake Road in Yellowknife (Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 3:00 pm, 867-767-9166 ext. 21118), signs up lottery retailers and runs the GameSense NT responsible-gambling program.

Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA). MACA is the territorial government department that licenses and regulates charity bingos, Nevada tickets, casinos and raffles under the NWT Lotteries Act. That Act covers the gambling the Criminal Code allows. MACA says licensing authority now rests with 16 NWT communities, “including” Aklavik, Behchokǫ̀, Deline, Fort Good Hope, Fort McPherson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Norman Wells, Paulatuk, Tsiigehtchic, Tuktoyaktuk, Tulita, Ulukhaktok, Whatì and Yellowknife. If your group is in one of those communities, apply to the community government. Anywhere else, apply to MACA.

What you can legally do online

Product	Available online in the NWT?	How, according to official sources
National and regional lotto (LOTTO 6/49, LOTTO MAX, DAILY GRAND, WESTERN 649, WESTERN MAX)	Yes, single draws	WCLC’s Lotto Spot! app. You must be inside the WCLC region to buy.
Multi-draw lotto subscriptions	Not right now	WCLC retired both its Mail Subscription and SubscriptionSpot.ca services in April 2026. It says subscriptions will return on an upgraded Lotto Spot platform, with no date given. In store, Lotto Spot retailers sell advance-play tickets for up to 25 consecutive draws (KENO up to 99).
Sports betting (SPORT SELECT, POOLS, FUTURES)	Build online, buy in store	On sportselect.com you build a slip and generate a code for a retailer. The ticket is printed by a lottery retailer. GameSense NT calls Sport Select NT & NU Lotteries’ “only sports betting platform”.
Online casino, slots, table games, poker	No licensed option found	None listed on the GNWT, NT & NU Lotteries or WCLC sites.
Bingo, raffles, Nevada tickets, charity casino nights	In person, licensed	Licensed by MACA or by one of the 16 community governments.

Some notes on the app, taken from WCLC’s own pages:

• Mobile tickets can only be bought for one draw at a time.
• You can pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa or Mastercard.
• Winning mobile tickets up to $1,000 have to be validated by a lottery retailer, and any retailer in the WCLC region can do it.
• The app can also scan draw, Scratch & Win and sports tickets from the WCLC region to check them, and it can build QR codes that a retailer scans to print a ticket.

Separately, NT & NU Lotteries says its Yellowknife prize claim office handles winning tickets of $1,000 or more, by appointment. Its site does not say how this applies to tickets bought in the app, so ask the office (867-767-9166 ext. 21118) before you travel.

Why offshore casino sites aren’t “legal” in the NWT

The Criminal Code bans gambling in general. Section 207 carves out exceptions, and one of them lets the government of a province conduct and manage a lottery scheme “in accordance with any law enacted by the legislature of that province”. Under federal law, “province” includes the Northwest Territories (Interpretation Act, s. 35). Section 207 also says that charities, fairs and other licensees cannot run games “operated on or through a computer, video device, slot machine or a dice game”. That limit applies to the licensee exceptions in paragraphs (b) to (f), not to the government exception.

Our reading is that a legal online gambling product in the NWT has to be run by government. Right now that means the WCLC lottery products described above. Offshore casino sites that take NWT players are not licensed by the NWT government, WCLC or NT & NU Lotteries.

This page explains the law in general terms. It is not legal advice.

Legal gambling age in the NWT

Activity	Minimum age	Source
Lotto Spot! app (online lottery tickets)	18	WCLC Lotto Spot! app page
SPORT SELECT	18+ (“Please Play Responsibly 18+”)	Sportselect.com
Being in the casino area of a licensed charity casino	19	NWT Lotteries Regulations, s. 60
Buying or selling Nevada tickets	16	NWT Lotteries Regulations, s. 48
Buying or selling sports draft lottery entry forms	16	NWT Lotteries Regulations, s. 88(1)

Lottery retailers may set stricter rules of their own. If you’re not sure, ask the retailer or NT & NU Lotteries (867-767-9166 ext. 21118).

Getting help and setting limits

• 811 Mental Health and Wellness Support Line (811 or 1-844-259-1793). The old NWT Help Line web address now leads here, so use these numbers rather than the older 1-800 number some lottery pages still print. Open 24/7 and free. Press 1 for the Mental Health and Wellness Support line, where nurses help with addiction recovery among other things. You can stay anonymous, and you can also call about someone you care about. GameSense NT lists this as the help line for anyone who feels gambling has stopped being fun.
• In Nunavut: GameSense NT lists the Kamatsiaqtut Help Line, 1-800-265-3333, 24/7.
• GameSense NT (gamesensent.com) is the responsible-gambling program of NT & NU Lotteries. It explains how lottery, Scratch & Win and sports betting games work, lists warning signs, and has resources for families.
• Emergencies: call 911. The 811 line is not an emergency service.

Self-exclusion. The official NWT pages we reviewed don’t describe a territory-wide self-exclusion program for lottery. If you want help setting limits or making a plan, call 811.

What changed recently

• April 2026: WCLC ended both its Mail Subscription and SubscriptionSpot.ca services. SubscriptionSpot is not taking new registrations and sales are unavailable; subscriptions that ran past the final April 2 draw are being refunded by cheque. WCLC’s alternatives, Play Alberta and PlayNow, serve Alberta and Manitoba only, so for now NWT players can buy advance play only at Lotto Spot retailers (up to 25 consecutive draws).
• Watch item: WCLC says an upgraded Lotto Spot platform, with a new app and a desktop site offering subscriptions and advance play, is coming. No launch date is given. When it launches, the online options for NWT players will change and this page will be updated.
• As of 30 September 2026: NT & NU Lotteries says applications to become a lottery retailer are on hold because of a terminal upgrade project.
• Law: the NWT Lotteries Act was last amended in 2018 (S.N.W.T. 2018, c.18), according to the Department of Justice consolidation. We found no NWT law authorizing online casino gaming as of 30 September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is online gambling legal in the NWT?

Only government lottery. NWT adults can buy single-draw lottery tickets through WCLC’s Lotto Spot! app while they are inside the WCLC region. No online casino is licensed in the Northwest Territories.

What is the gambling age in the Northwest Territories?

It depends on the product. The Lotto Spot! app and SPORT SELECT are 18+. Nobody under 19 may be in the casino area of a licensed charity casino. Nevada tickets and sports draft lottery entry forms can’t be bought or sold by anyone under 16.

Can I bet on sports online in the NWT?

Not through a licensed territorial site. SPORT SELECT is the only sports betting product NT & NU Lotteries offers. You can build a slip on sportselect.com, but the ticket is printed at a lottery retailer.

Are offshore casino sites licensed in the NWT?

No. Those sites are not licensed by the NWT government, WCLC or NT & NU Lotteries. Under the Criminal Code, charities and other licensees can’t run games on a computer, so a legal online gambling product has to be run by government. The Code also has a player-side offence: section 207(3)(b) makes taking part in an unauthorized lottery scheme punishable on summary conviction. A Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission licence, issued in Quebec, doesn’t make a site legal here either.

Who regulates gambling in the NWT?

MACA licenses charity bingos, raffles, Nevada tickets and casinos under the Lotteries Act, and 16 community governments have delegated authority to do the same. Lottery tickets are run by the WCLC, which the NWT belongs to as an associate member, together with NT & NU Lotteries.

Where can I get help with gambling in the NWT?

Call 811 (press 1 for the Mental Health and Wellness Support Line) or 1-844-259-1793. It is free, confidential and open 24/7. You can also visit GameSense NT at gamesensent.com.

Last reviewed: 30 September 2026.