Outlook: What is coming?

There have been no prosecutions of non-local online gambling operators in Canada under the Criminal Code. The absence of such prosecutions illustrates the current attitude of law enforcement authorities towards non-local online gambling operations. The authorities have evidenced no appetite to prosecute such activities, and this attitude has a significant bearing on the risk of prosecution of non-local online gambling operators that accept wagers from persons in Canada. Based upon the lack of reported cases, it would appear more likely than not that the risk of prosecution is currently quite low. In the spring and summer of 2023, an organisation calling itself the Canadian Lottery Coalition (the “CLC”) operating through a private sector law firm sent letters (the “CLC Letters”) to a number of non-local private operators, asserting that by operating igaming websites that accepted persons in the ROC as customers, they were acting in violation of the Criminal Code. The original members of the CLC were the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, the Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation and Loto-Quebec. The CLC Letters also alleged that by advertising their igaming services in the ROC, the non-local private operators were contravening the Competition Act by making materially false or misleading representations concerning the legal status of the operators’ igaming activities. The CLC Letters further alleged that the non-local private operators were thereby causing significant harm to the members of the CLC and to their customers in the ROC. The CLC Letters demanded that the non-local private operators [i] cease making their igaming services accessible in the ROC, and [ii] cease all advertising activity in the ROC. In circumstances where the non-local private operators receiving the CLC Letters were also AGCO-registered igaming operators, the CLC Letters alleged that by offering igaming services in the ROC those operators were acting contrary to the Standards. In our view, this was a misconceived notion. There are no AGCO Standards that relate to the activities of an AGCO-registered igaming operator that take place in the ROC. As noted, the CLC Letters were sent by a private law firm acting as counsel for the CLC and not by a provincial law enforcement authority. At that time, we wrote that this meant is was likely that if any legal remedies were actually going to be pursued in furtherance of the goals of the CLC, they would be of a civil nature rather than a criminal prosecution. This prediction was borne out in early February 2025, when the provincial gaming corporation of Manitoba (Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries [“MLL”]) applied to a Manitoba court on behalf of the CLC for an injunction to block the offshore online gaming operations of the corporation operating Bodog.eu and its associated free-play site, Bodog.net (collectively, “Bodog”) in Manitoba. The application sought to obtain the following relief from the Court: A declaration stating that Bodog has no lawful authority to offer gambling services in Manitoba or advertise those services within the province; A declaration stating that Bodog’s advertisements, with a particular focus on statements in those advertisements that characterize its platform as legitimate, legal, or safe, constitute misleading representations that contravene the federal Competition Act and Trademarks Act; A declaration stating that Bodog has engaged in tortious conduct by acting as an unauthorized and illegal gambling site in Manitoba; and An injunction against Bodog’s operations and advertising in Manitoba, which in addition to other measures would require Bodog to implement geolocation technology that would enable it to block Manitoba residents from accessing its platforms as required by the injunction. Bodog did not take any action to defend the matter or to dispute any of the allegations of MLL and the CLC. On May 26, 2025, the Court ruled in favour of MLL and the CLC. As a result, Bodog will not be permitted to advertise or accept players in Manitoba. How the Court plans to enforce that decision if Bodog were to choose not to voluntarily comply is not clear. It is important to note that this decision does not have precedential value from the perspective of whether the activities of Bodog (or any other operator) violate the Code or whether they would be within the criminal jurisdiction of the court, as this was not a criminal prosecution where the Court would have been required to apply a higher standard of proof. Even from a civil law perspective, the decision has little or no precedential value because Bodog did not contest the case. All efforts by provincial lottery corporations to exclude igaming operators from markets in the ROC have avoided any attempt to prosecute those operators under the Criminal Code. This leads us to conclude that the provincial governments have serious doubts as to whether such a prosecution would succeed, whether due to a defence based on jurisdictional issues as explained herein or other grounds. Ontario On April 4, 2022, legislation that introduced a new iGaming regulatory regime came into force in Ontario. The new regulatory regime permits private operators to offer iGaming services to individuals physically located in Ontario.