In 2025 it is predicted that the global market for the activity will be worth very nearly US$450 billion. What’s more, it’s set to grow at the very healthy rate of 3.12% a year for the next four years. This means that by 2029 the figure should have passed the US$500 billion mark by a very considerable margin. Naturally, the growth will be driven by the increasing number of players with an estimated 1.1 billion members of the world’s population participating by the start of the next decade.
Among the world’s gambling nations Canada ranks fourth with an annual revenue in 2024 of CAN$3.2 billion, an increase of 32% from the previous financial year. Canadians have always been keen on betting, but these figures suggest that there’s been a gold rush bigger even than the Klondike saw in 1896. But now the question many people are asking is whether this growth can continue as such a remarkable rate.
The prospects for growth
Of all of the provinces in Canada it’s undoubtedly Ontario that has led the way. Back in 2022 the government decided that it was time to embrace online casinos and allow them to be licenced to operate legally.
Under the auspices of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, there are now 51 operators and over 80 websites allowing Canadians to play legally online. Arguably, Ontario’s online gambling sector may have reached saturation point. So future growth will most likely have to come from other provinces adopting a similarly gambling-friendly approach.
The most likely to come on board soon is Alberta. The country’s fourth most populous province is already well-advanced in its preparations. The groundwork for these was laid for in the form of the Bill 48: iGaming Alberta Act. This includes the setting up of the
Alberta iGaming Commission to manage licencing and regulation.
Other provinces including Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories already have a relatively large number of online gamblers, but who play in unregulated markets. This is obviously not ideal as it leaves them with little protection from unscrupulous operators, something that is never now an issue in Ontario provided players stick to officially licenced sites.
The draw of the online casino
As in all growing gambling markets, it’s been the growth of the online casino sector that has been driving the boom in Canada, the number of operators has resulted in review sites like Casino.ca profiling over 120 casinos. As they proliferate, access to them continues to improve thanks to the onward march of technology. So even those Canadians living in more remote areas can now access gaming online.
Online casinos are also of particular appeal to the more technologically advanced younger generation and it’s this group in particular who are turning their backs on the more traditional land-based casinos.
Because novelty and innovation is also a key driver in the sector, operators are in a constant race to provide better and more varied games. AI is helping in this respect to target players with the sorts of games they want to play. These factors are certain to help the sector in general in the future. Alongside this, online casinos are also becoming even safer and more secure than ever before, providing reassurances to players that they have no worries about using them.
Increasing regulation and restrictions
Against this backdrop of the increasing popularity of gambling there has started to emerge an awareness of the risks it can pose. So within any introduction of new, more permissive, laws there’s an equal emphasis on encouraging responsible gambling. This is considered to be so important that there was even a presentation by prominent gaming law maker Shawn Fluharty on the subject at June’s G7 summit held in Calgary.
The national government is also starting to take a closer look at the rules governing the advertising of all gambling, with a particular emphasis on sports betting. This is in light of the huge amount of marketing activity that some regard as bombarding the general public.
In fact, it has been the complaints from the viewing public that has been a key driver in action being taken. This comes after the move in February of this year that saw the use of sports people and celebrities being banned in ads. Some are now even calling for a complete ban like the one imposed on tobacco advertising.
What form these actual restrictions will actually take remains to be seen. But however draconian they may be, it’s unlikely that they will have a major effect on a sector that continues to boom.