Ontario online market opening could slip back to 2022

The projected opening of Ontario’s iGaming and online sportsbook markets, originally slated for December this year, could now slip back into 2022 according to industry insiders. Paul Burns, President and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, has said the province is looking at a revised opening date for the iGaming market and in an interview with Canadian media, said: “My guess is it could be sometime in February, I just don’t know when.” Currently, the only iGaming site authorised in Ontario is Government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming, also operator of the only online legal sportsbook, Proline+. Government and gaming regulators have worked long and hard on an open iGaming market, allowing private operators to legally operate. But PointsBet, for example, the Australian operator who announced its partnership with Curling Canada on October 13^th, anticipates beginning operations in Ontario early in 2022, pending regulatory approval. The Ontario market will be the first to open in Canada and with the Government estimating that Ontarians spend tens of millions with ‘grey’ sites annually, opening day cannot come quickly enough.