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Ontario iGaming by the numbers: four years of an open market

Ontario's regulated online market grew from C$1.65 billion to C$4.27 billion in gaming revenue in four fiscal years. What the model, the ad rules and the enforcement record mean for affiliates.

Published Updated

Cream cake with four lit candles and one slice missing on a stand

Ontario iGaming generated C$4.27 billion in gaming revenue from C$103.3 billion in cash wagers in fiscal 2025-26, its fourth year as an open market. That was 2.6 times the launch year. Private operators run the regulated sites (50 in iGO's March 2025 count), and 91.1% of online gamblers in iGO's year-4 survey said they played on them.

Results at a glance

MetricValueNote
Gaming revenue, FY2025-26C$4.27bnUp 33% on FY2024-25 (C$3.22bn)
Cash wagers, FY2025-26C$103.3bnUp 25%. Cash wagers exclude promotional (bonus) wagers
Scale vs launch year2.6x revenue, 2.9x wagersFY2022-23: C$1.65bn revenue, C$35.5bn wagers
Operators and sites12 at launch, 50 by March 2025Latest operator count in iGO's annual report; more than 80 gaming websites. No newer count published
Channelisation91.1%Ipsos survey for iGO and AGCO, published May 2026. Target was 90% by 2026-27
Latest half-yearC$2.45bn revenue, Apr-Sep 2026vs C$1.93bn in Apr-Sep 2025

Fiscal years run April to March. Figures are iGO's unaudited data, subject to adjustment, excluding OLG's own online gaming and pari-mutuel horse racing. Revenue is non-adjusted gross gaming revenue (NAGGR); fiscal-year totals are our sums of iGO's monthly data, as of the September 2026 release (published October 2026). Last updated October 30, 2026.

Context: how Ontario's iGaming market is built

The Ontario iGaming market opened on April 4, 2022. Rather than license one operator or a few partners, the province let in any private operator that cleared two gates.

The first gate is the regulator. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) registers operators and writes the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming, the core of the province's rules. The second is iGaming Ontario (iGO), an AGCO subsidiary that signs an operating agreement with each operator and conducts and manages the market for the province.

The money flows through iGO. Operators deposit gaming revenue with it, and iGO's 2024-25 annual report describes the operators' share as variable compensation: iGO "remits 80% of the gaming revenue deposited back to each Gaming Operator". Casino games, sports and event betting, and peer-to-peer poker all report through one iGO dataset.

For how this compares with other licensing approaches, see our guide to online gambling licenses.

What they did

Open entry. Any operator with AGCO registration and a signed iGO agreement could go live. Twelve operators launched in April 2022; by March 2025 there were 50, offering more than 80 sites, with four new operators arriving in 2024-25.

A revenue split built into the operator agreement. Operators get back 80% of the gaming revenue they deposit. In FY2024-25 iGO paid operators C$2.33 billion, up from C$1.76 billion a year earlier, and paid the Province C$181 million in dividends.

Tight advertising rules. AGCO Standard 2.05 bans advertising that communicates "gambling inducements, bonuses and credits", "except on an operator's gaming site and through direct advertising and marketing, after receiving active player consent". From February 28, 2024, Standard 2.03 also barred operators from using active or retired athletes who have an agreement or arrangement, direct or indirect, with an operator or gaming-related supplier, except for the exclusive purpose of advocating responsible gambling. AGCO's release describes this as a ban on athletes in igaming advertising. The same change covers cartoon figures, role models, social media influencers, celebrities and entertainers who would likely appeal to minors.

Operators answer for their marketers. AGCO's March 2022 advertising notice said operators must ensure that third parties they contract, marketing affiliates included, meet the standards (Standard 1.19). It added that affiliates advertising for Ontario must not also advertise sites that operate in Ontario without AGCO registration (Standard 1.21).

Results

Revenue grew every year: C$1.65 billion in FY2022-23, C$2.44 billion in FY2023-24, C$3.22 billion in FY2024-25 and C$4.27 billion in FY2025-26. Cash wagers went from C$35.5 billion to C$63.3 billion, C$82.7 billion and C$103.3 billion. The first year includes the ramp-up from launch, so the cleaner comparison is the last two: revenue grew 32% and then 33%.

Casino carries the market. In FY2024-25 casino games produced C$2.4 billion of the C$3.2 billion in revenue, betting C$724 million and poker C$66 million. In September 2026 casino took 88% of wagers and 82% of revenue. For a US reader, Ontario is mainly an online casino story.

Revenue as a share of wagers rose from 3.9% in FY2024-25 to 4.1% in FY2025-26, by our calculation. Monthly active player accounts went from 277,000 in the launch month to 1.41 million in September 2026, with average revenue of C$295 per active account that month. iGO notes these are accounts, not unique players, because one person can hold accounts with several operators.

Operator numbers jumped from 12 at launch to 49 (84 sites) in iGO's April 2025 results release and 50 in the 2024-25 annual report. We found no published operator count for FY2025-26, so we do not say how much of the latest growth came from new entrants.

Channelisation moved last. Ipsos surveys for iGO and AGCO found 85.3% of online gamblers on regulated sites in 2022-23, 86.4% in 2023-24 and 83.7% in 2024-25, then 91.1% in the year-4 study published in May 2026.

What did not work, and the risks

The grey market did not disappear. In the year-3 survey, 20.2% of regulated-site players also used unregulated sites. In year 4, 8.9% of respondents who gambled online did so on unregulated sites. These are survey results, not measured traffic.

Bonus-led marketing became an enforcement target. In 2022 AGCO issued penalties of C$100,000 to Crown DK CAN (DraftKings) and C$48,000 to Unibet ON over broad inducement advertising they allegedly ran in May 2022, contrary to Standard 2.05. The BetMGM order, announced in March 2025, covered a cash offer made at a trade show and two marketing affiliates. BetMGM acknowledged that one affiliate had engaged in prohibited inducement marketing, which AGCO linked to 377 sign-ups and C$127,180 in commissions; a second affiliate was alleged to have done the same. AGCO cited Standards 1.19 and 2.05 and set the penalty at C$110,000. Each operator can appeal such an order to the Licence Appeal Tribunal.

The athlete ban limited a creative format. AGCO framed it as protection for minors. No published measure shows what it did to acquisition costs.

Self-exclusion now covers the whole market. BetGuard, Ontario's centralized self-exclusion tool, went live on May 14, 2026, and all registered operators must take part. One request blocks account access, new sign-ups and marketing across every regulated site, OLG's included, for 6 months, 1 year, 5 years or a custom term.

Margins are not visible. iGO publishes total payments to operators, not profit by operator, and there is no public data on affiliate earnings in Ontario. Its audited statements also report FY2024-25 gaming revenue of C$2.9 billion, on a different basis from the C$3.2 billion market figure; check which series a number comes from.

Takeaways for affiliates

  • Treat bonus content as regulated advertising. In Ontario, inducements belong on the operator's site or in consented direct marketing. A "best welcome offer" page aimed at Ontario traffic can put your operator partner in front of AGCO.

  • Expect your partner to audit you. Contracts, creative approval and checks on where traffic comes from can be expected to get closer scrutiny, because AGCO holds the operator responsible for its third parties (Standard 1.19). Keep records of every Ontario-facing placement, and do not promote unregistered sites to Ontario users.

  • Drop athlete creative for Ontario unless it is purely responsible-gambling messaging. Treat influencer and celebrity creative as high-risk if it could appeal to minors. Read Standard 2.03 and any AGCO guidance for your case, and check with AGCO whether any affiliate registration applies to you.

  • Read iGO's monthly data before you pitch. Monthly wagers, revenue, active accounts and product mix are enough to size a vertical and spot seasonality.

  • Plan for a US state copying parts of the model. Open entry, an operator revenue split and strict ad rules are separate choices, and a state can adopt one without the others. Track the current state picture in is online gambling legal in the US.

  • Compare it with other regulated markets. For contrast, see our New York sports betting tax case and Brazil's first year of regulated betting.

This is a summary of public regulatory documents, not legal advice.

FAQ

What is iGaming in Ontario?

It is the province's regulated online gambling market: casino games, sports and event betting, and peer-to-peer poker from private operators registered with AGCO and contracted to iGaming Ontario. It opened on April 4, 2022.

Yes, for eligible Ontarians of legal age, on sites run by AGCO-registered operators with an iGaming Ontario agreement, and on OLG.ca. AGCO tells players to look for the iGaming Ontario logo as the sign of a regulated site.

Who regulates iGaming in Ontario?

AGCO registers operators, sets the standards and issues penalties. iGaming Ontario, an AGCO subsidiary, conducts and manages the market, holds the operating agreements and handles the revenue flow.

How big is Ontario's regulated online market?

In fiscal 2025-26 (April 2025 to March 2026) it produced about C$4.27 billion in gaming revenue from C$103.3 billion in wagers, according to iGO's unaudited data. In the first half of fiscal 2026-27 revenue was C$2.45 billion.

Sources

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