Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) announced new requirements for the submission of completed applications and paid registrations fees by July 13 2026 recently, indicating that – after a two-year wait – Alberta’s online gambling market is finally set to open.
The province’s new-look gambling regulator has confirmed that a date is now set for the market’s opening, requiring all those looking to enter the regulated space to have submitted and paid the necessary requirements – with possible case-by-case extensions potentially available to October 13.
Launching commercial sports betting and online casino is no mean feat. However, once the launch is made – the real work truly begins, and there are plenty of regulatory pitfalls those in government in Alberta will want to avoid to ensure a thriving landscape long-term.
KYC: More than a buzz-phrase
It is the obvious point to make that Alberta has a shining example of a highly lucrative and well-regulated maturing online gambling market just down the road in Ontario. Obvious, indeed – but important, nonetheless.
Ontario’s market has thrived since opening in 2022 and now acts as a gateway for many operators looking to break into the American space. 2025 saw the province take CA$708m (US$570m) in iGaming tax, all while launching one of the industry’s first functional centralized self-exclusion systems.
Indeed, what is observed in Ontario is a balance. These two juxtaposing developments are very much differing sides of the same coin, and living proof that that RG and thriving financials can co-exist in one modern gambling ecosystem.
Alberta’s ecosystem will, no doubt, look a little different. There is an expectation that players in the province will be slightly older and more financially viable from a stability standpoint. Higher spend on less volatile or unpredictable markets and outcomes will likely be the starting point for operators getting to know how habits materialise in the market. Alas, bombardment of players with email offerings and marketing may not have the desired effect. However, over-regulation of marketing techniques such as advertisements will bear the ever-present black-market risk.
The lesson for Alberta? Do not strangle your market before it has a chance to breathe. No pressure!
KSA: Don’t go that way?
On the subject of advertising, it is not often you see a large-scale entity in this industry hold its hands up in admission of a well-intentioned mistake. Yet, 2025 saw the Dutch regulator KSA do exactly that, posting a release that highlighted a rise in black market activity in the Netherlands directly correlating to the implementation of stricter gambling advertisement laws.
In a nation that has struggled severely with gambling related money laundering, Canada and Alberta do not need to add any fuel to the black-market fire that has been brought under control thanks to gargantuan efforts across the nation in recent years.
Advertising restrictions are, perhaps, the second-most commonly cited restriction that can lead to black market proliferation. Second only, of course, to high tax rates.
From what the industry has been informed so far, Alberta is set to tax gross gaming revenue at a rate of 20%, the same rate as Ontario. This starting point is a well-trodden path, not only close to home for Alberta, but also overseas.
Brazil & UK: Taxation in the nations
In the UK, remote gaming duty rested at 21% prior to 2025’s Autumn budget. As of this month, however, that rate is set to skyrocket up to 40%, and the effects are already being felt – with sponsorships, retail shops and investments being axed across the market. It is easy to see gambling as a golden goose – we all know how much financial potential lies in the industry – but over-excitement and tax impositions coming too soon can cause all kinds of problems, and it happens more than one might think.
In Brazil, there have been a number of attempts to capitalize on the market’s explosive potential from a tax perspective. Indeed, the nation’s CIDE-Bets proposal was received, shall we say, poorly by the industry. The measure was a selective 15% tax on online wagers that came less than 12 months after the market’s initial opening and was laid to rest in February after fierce protest and litigation forced the Brazilian Chamber to withdraw the proposal.
The lesson for Alberta? Do not strangle your market before it has a chance to breathe. No pressure!
Alberta’s regulatory intentions were first announced at the 2024 Canadian Gaming Summit by Minister Dale Nally
