New Brunswick is reviewing options for regulating private online gambling operators, potentially changing a market currently served by the publicly owned Atlantic Lottery Corporation.
Finance Minister René Legacy confirmed the review in a statement to Brunswick News, according to the Telegraph-Journal. He said online gambling was evolving as both regulated and unregulated options continued to expand.
Government spokesperson David Kelly said the province was monitoring approaches elsewhere while considering how to maintain safe, responsible and appropriately regulated gambling. No timetable or preferred model was announced.
The review comes as Atlantic Lottery raises concerns about gambling expenditure leaving the region. Spokesperson Greg Weston said operators outside Atlantic provincial regulation attract more than CA$250m ($178m) annually from Atlantic Canada without returning funds to its governments.
Separately, provincial budget documents show New Brunswick’s government lottery revenue has fallen CA$8m compared with two years earlier, the newspaper reported.
Weston said Ontario’s market opening had increased Atlantic Canadians’ exposure to advertising from operators not authorised locally. Any change to Atlantic Lottery’s market structure would be a decision for its provincial shareholders, he added.
Ontario admitted licensed private operators in April 2022, while Alberta opened its commercial market in July 2026. Both retain provincial oversight through registration and operating arrangements.
Brock University associate professor Michael Naraine suggested the Atlantic provinces could consider cooperation with Quebec to create a larger market with safeguards.
Molly Cormier, Executive Director of the Canadian Alliance for Responsible Gaming, said the coalition doesn't endorse a particular provincial model, instead advocating safeguards, accountability, oversight and enforcement.
New Brunswick’s review follows renewed discussion of private-operator regulation in Quebec after the Parti Québécois election victory.
Separately, Atlantic Lottery is among four provincial lottery corporations challenging Ontario’s proposed international player-pooling model before the Supreme Court of Canada. The court heard the appeal on 7 October and reserved judgment, leaving the proposed arrangement unresolved.
Atlantic Lottery returns all its lottery profits to its four Atlantic provincial government shareholders
