May 27, 2025 604b5b
The age of Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, has brought Alberta to the threshold of a modern, regulated online gambling market. As expected with any major legislative shift, debate in the legislature raised a number of concerns - some valid, others based more on perception than on data or precedent. Below is our response to the most pressing objections raised during the May 7, 2025 debate in the Alberta Legislature, using the experience of other regulated markets and the practical realities of gambling behaviour.
One central concern raised is the absence of detailed regulations within the bill itself. That is a fair observation - but not an unusual feature of enabling legislation. Bill 48 establishes the legal and structural foundation, while the specific rules, policies, and enforcement tools will be developed by the new iGaming Alberta Corporation.
This phased approach follows the model used in Ontario, which Alberta has clearly studied and engaged with. Ontario’s framework, istered by iGaming Ontario, has successfully created a competitive, regulated market with comprehensive standards for responsible gambling, consumer protection, and integrity. Well over 80% of Ontario players now play within the legal market. Alberta now has the benefit of learning from Ontario’s early challenges and successes, and adapting its own regulations accordingly.
Opposition MLAs expressed concerns about increased exposure of youth to gambling. This concern is precisely why regulation is needed. The added exposure already exists as a result of widespread ments as related to the legal iGaming Ontario market.
However, under today’s unregulated landscape, Albertans can easily access offshore gambling websites that lack strong age verification or consumer protections. Bill 48 enables Alberta to replace this with a regulated market where operators are required to conduct identity checks, enforce Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols, and offer robust responsible gambling tools like deposit limits, time-outs, and self-exclusion.
While no system is perfect, regulation moves Alberta from a high-risk, unenforced environment to one where safeguards are mandatory and enforceable at the largest, most visible brands.
Concerns were also raised about potential harm to Alberta’s land-based casinos and the charities that benefit from them. But evidence from other jurisdictions suggests that online and in-person gambling are not zero-sum competitors.
In fact, research from the U.S. and Europe consistently shows that the two channels serve different purposes. Online gambling is often private, fast-paced, and convenience-driven. Land-based casinos, on the other hand, offer a social experience and entertainment value that cannot be replicated online. A 2024 economic impact study in Maryland projected that introducing iGaming would significantly grow total gambling revenue without reducing in-person casino activity.
Alberta’s own land-based operators are well-positioned to remain vital community hubs, especially if they are invited to participate in the online market or benefit from revenue-sharing models.
Another argument raised was that many offshore operators will ignore Alberta’s new rules. That may be true for some - but not the bulk of those with any brand worth mentioning.
Ontario’s experience shows that when a province establishes a clear legal pathway and enforces it through credible oversight, most credible international operators choose to comply and apply for licenses, or stop serving Ontario residents, respecting the new market laws. When you combine refusal of service from hundreds of "grey market" brands and the legal market installs a one-touch self-exclusion platform, you create a far better environment from a harm reduction perspective.
Alberta is unlikely to eliminate offshore gambling entirely. But if it can significantly reduce access to those current offshore sites by steering the majority of players toward legal, safer platforms, that is a significant public policy win. Regulation is not about perfection; it’s about meaningful progress. More people will be made safe, while keeping more money in Alberta.
Some legislators argued that online gambling acts as a regressive tax on low-income Albertans. This view may sound compelling for some, but it is contradicted by actual revenue data from regulated markets.
The reality is that the overwhelming majority of gambling revenue, both online and in-person, comes from a small percentage of players who gamble frequently and with higher stakes. Fraud detection solution company, Sift, states that "VIPs" or high-value players, make up just 20% of players, but bring 70% of gaming revenue. These individuals are not the average low-income worker earning $16.50 an hour. They are adults who have the disposable income to sustain losses, and they are already gambling today - mostly on offshore platforms that generate zero tax revenue for Alberta. Furthermore, this affluent cohort will be the one yielding the bulk of the gaming taxes which will be used to invest in harm reduction programs, education campaigns, and community s that serve all socio-economic groups.
Bringing lower income players into a regulated environment in Alberta means those people can be introduced to mandated safer gambling tools, like play limits, deposit limits and time outs. For those most at-risk, it will be an introduction to full-on self-exclusion, which will work across all legal online platforms. As mentioned above, when self-exclusion is combined with the reality that most "offshore" brands of importance that go unlicensed will withdraw from serving Alberta, at-risk lower-income Canadians will prove to be far better-served through iGaming regulation, than they are left to the grey market.
Bill 48 is not the final word - it’s the starting point for a safer, more transparent market for online Alberta sports betting and casino providers. It doesn’t claim to solve every challenge on Day 1. But it gives the province the tools to bring gambling under control, enforce rules, and channel activity into legal, able platforms.
The alternative is to continue letting "grey market" operators dominate Alberta’s online gambling scene without oversight, without protection, and without returning anything to the people of this province.
Moving forward with regulation is not a risk. Standing still is.
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