Gambling in Canada: What You Need to Know

Canada is known as a liberal country, and its gambling laws reflect this. Whether you are visiting Canada on vacation or you are planning on moving there permanently, you will find this to be one of the world’s most overlooked gambling destinations.

Here is everything you need to know about Canada’s national online and offline gambling laws before you place any bets. The rules and regulations do vary between provinces, however, so it is worth checking the situation before you arrive.

Real-Money Casinos

In general, real money casinos are permitted throughout Canada. There is no federal legislation that prevents individual provinces from establishing casinos, so there are plenty of establishments for gamblers to choose from.

Any gambling in Canada is illegal if it is not managed correctly and licensed by the provincial or Federal Government. This applies to both online and offline casinos.

Gamblers who are planning on playing in a physical casino should have a simple and straightforward experience in Canada. Any real money casinos that they encounter throughout the country can be assumed to be properly licensed.

Online Casinos

When it comes to online casinos, things get a little more complicated. Under Canadian law, it is illegal for overseas casinos to provide services to Canadian citizens. The Canadian government has gone after online casinos in the past, and several in the United States have had to pay multimillion-dollar fines.

To ensure that you are staying on the right side of the law, you should only play casino games online through Canada-based casinos. Fortunately, there are plenty of excellent casinos for you to choose from. In fact, the province of British Columbia has launched its own gambling service, providing online betting and casino games to residents of the province.

Staying Safe

Because online gambling in Canada is something of a gray area, players should ensure that they are only playing through a Canada based casino that they can trust.

Before you deposit any money with any online casino, you should first do a background check and make sure that they are legit.

You should also consider the payment methods available to you for depositing and withdrawing funds. Some people are hesitant to hand over their bank details to an online casino. Fortunately, many casinos allow you to use other payment methods such as PayPal or even prepaid cards to fund your gambling.As long as you remember everything above, you should have no trouble staying on the right side of Canada’s gambling laws. As long as you aren’t planning on joining an underground casino or hosting your own backroom poker sessions, you are unlikely to get into trouble with gambling in Canada. Just make sure that any online casinos you use when in Canada are also based in the country. Gambling with overseas casinos is technically illegal. How much trouble you would be in for openly flouting these rules is uncertain, but why take the risk? Gambling safely in Canada is easy.