The government’s Play Alberta website is currently the only regulated online gambling option available in the province, but sites run by offshore companies can still be accessed.
AGLC launches PlayAlberta, a regulated online gambling site. Oct. 1, 2020.
Courtesy: AGLC
Alberta’s government is looking to regulate private online gambling websites in a move it says will capture lost revenue and protect bettors.
If passed, new legislation — Bill 48: the iGaming Alberta Act — tabled by Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally will see the province create a new Crown corporation called Alberta iGaming Corporation to set rules for online casinos and safeguards for users.
Nally says exactly what those rules and safeguards will be still needs to be determined, but the government’s goal isn’t to make online gambling more accessible.
Instead, he says the goal is to reduce the Alberta market share held by offshore companies.
1:49
Provincial online gambling website ‘PlayAlberta’ now live
The government-owned Play Alberta website is currently the only regulated online gambling option available in the province, but sites run by offshore companies can still be accessed.
The government estimates Play Alberta captures just under half of the provincial online gambling market, with $5.3 billion in bets made on the site in the previous fiscal year.
— More to come…
© 2025 The Canadian Press