Published by BARONMAG
Gambling Laws in Canada
The casino and the origin of the gambling industry in Canada has a complex history. Prior to 1969, betting in Canada other than horse races, charity lotteries, and lotteries could be spotted only at fairs. But later, the federal government changed the rule and allowed 10 provinces to hold lotteries.
It was in the year 1985, the federal government decided to permit gambling in all the provinces. But the laws did not state what people can and cannot gamble on. The great breakthrough came when gaming machines were made legal. Several years later, land-based casinos appeared on the territory of the country, as gambling operations started to become more and more popular among the local players in Canada.
Online Gambling in Canada
Today, all the gambling activities are permitted in the territory of Canada excluding online gaming. Neither the country encourages any local bodies to operate inside the country nor grant licenses.
Online gambling has always been a question of doubt in Canadian law. The gambling laws of Canada are certainly tricky and confusing. We even approached a regular online gambler through one of the famous UK based online gambling website Sparkle Slots to take an input on this and he stated that in the UK laws are much simpler and straightforward when compared to Canada. You can gamble online safely knowing that it is legal provided you are 18 or above. Therefore, you have a wide range of online gaming sites where you are welcomed, including all the biggest and most reputable online casinos in the UK.
The country opposed gambling of all sorts till 1960. As per the Criminal Code of the country, hosting a gambling website on the territory of Canada is defined as illegal. But every province has the permission to legalize specific types of gambling that may be operated using a computer within the borders of the country. Canada has indeed opened the doors for each Canadian province to decide on the matter of legalizing online gambling operation within its own limits.
However, there is one exception to the law. The Kahnawake Mohawk Nation has received permission to operate its own casino website. This operation was strongly opposed by the country’s Attorney General, who described it as illegal under the Canadian gambling laws. But no actions against the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation have been undertaken till date. The Mohawk Nation argue that they are a sovereign nation, and therefore have the right to operate casinos. The Kahnawake Mohawk Nation can essentially run a casino and lease space to all sorts of other online casinos within Canadian borders and not be prosecuted. But private enterprises like horserace companies who operate legally within Canada are forbidden from operating online casinos and poker sites under the Criminal Code of Canada.
While it extremely tough to operate an online casino from Canada, finding an online casino to play from Canada is indeed a cakewalk. There are a great number of reputable casinos worldwide to choose from and explore the online casino games.