Licensing is a huge part of online casinos and it’s something we urge you to take seriously when choosing a casino to play at. For Canadians, this can be difficult as online casinos are prohibited in some provinces, but it is legal to play at offshore online casinos. In April 2022, the Ontario government officially launched its regulated iGaming market.
To make things easier for you, we have written a short guide below on how to find out if an online casino for Canadian players has a license and if you can play at it or not. It’s important when visiting a site that you will play casino games legally and not be putting yourself at risk of unexpected costs or troubles.
Why is licensing important for online casinos?
There are numerous Canadian online casinos that are available to residents of and visitors to Ontario, but offshore casinos based in other jurisdictions are available for all Canadians to play at. Licensing is vital for all casinos as there are many platforms that are unlicensed and could have unscrupulous practices or actively try to scam their customers with rigged games and bogus bonuses.
If an online casino doesn’t have a license, they do not have to comply with any gambling laws or regulations. This means that they can operate unethically. In contrast, a casino with a license is bound by gambling laws and regulations in a specific region and is regularly audited for fairness and the randomness of its games.
How to check the license status of a Canadian online casino
Gambling licenses typically run for a set period and expire after a certain time. The online casino must make sure they periodically re-apply for their license to keep it up to date.
Also, licenses are either global or limited. Global licenses like the ones issued from the Malta Gaming Authority allow the casino to accept players from multiple regions and these are suitable for Canadians.
In contrast, there are some limited licenses that only make an online casino legal to play at or viable for people from a specific region. Due to how Canadian online gambling works, platforms that are licensed and regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) are suitable for Ontarians to play at as well. Either way, there are four simple ways you can check on the license of an online casino to see if it’s suitable for Canadian players:
1. Check the website footer for licensing information
Whenever we visit a new online casino, we head straight for the footer of the website. This is usually a separate section at the bottom that contains company information and important links.
Typically, online casinos place their licensing information in their website footer. This will usually be either a sentence stating who issues the license and a link to it, or the logo of the licensing body with a link to the license page.
The link is important as this will show proof of their license on the issuer’s website. Anyone can simply make a fake license number and place it on their website! The official license link should also show what countries it is valid for, so you can see if it’s available for Canadians.
2. Use trusted review websites
There are some fantastic and trusted review websites that do the hard work for you and find out important info about online casinos. You can find entire online casino reviews that show Canadians which casinos they can use, and which ones have the correct licensing.
Sites like these are a treasure trove of information and they can be invaluable for your online casino research.
3. Check with the licensing authorities
Another simple thing to do is to check with the licensing authorities themselves, such as the Malta Gaming Authority or Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)! This can take more time than the other methods though, as unless you know specifically which licensing body the casino should be linked with, you are searching blindly.
Licensing websites usually keep a publicly available database that shows their list of licenses together with details of the companies or online casinos they have been issued to. You can view important details such as where the license is valid for, when it expires and what it means.
4. Contact the online casino customer support
Lastly, why not just contact the online casino customer support team? Most platforms have a live chat or telephone line, and the customer support reps should have this information on hand. They should be able to provide full licensing info and tell you if Canadian players can legally play at the online casino. Social media posts can cover information about larger problems quickly too, although not everything on social media can be believed so stay aware.
If you find that customer support cannot easily provide this information, then that should immediately raise a red flag and give you cause for concern.
Only ever play at a licensed Canadian online casino to stay safe
We hope you have found this article helpful. We can’t stress the importance of only playing at online casinos for Canadians that are licensed. A gambling license means the online casino has gone through numerous steps to obtain it. This means they must operate fairly, have ethical practices and your personal info and payment info must be protected.
Published by HOLR Magazine.
