More Canadian Provinces for Online Gambling

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More and more provinces of Canada are showing interest in offering online gaming services through state owned operators. After Quebec, British Columbia and the Atlantic Provinces it was the turn of Ontario to make a statement in this regard. The statement was made last week by the provincial minister of finance, Dwight Duncan.

Duncan said that though Ontario had been contemplating this move for some time, the province has decided to put it on the front burner because it does not want the other provinces to go too far ahead. He said that Ontario would start offering online gambling services in 2012. The tax revenues from this venture have been estimated at 100 million Canadian dollars per annum within five years by the government. The designated operator will be the government owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG). The other Canadian provinces have also asked their lottery operators to start online casinos. One of the key tasks for OLG will be to create a safe and fair environment that will exclude problem and underage gamblers. Duncan also said that OLG would ensure the competitiveness of its online gambling operations and thus put an end to the 400 million Canadian dollars per year going to offshore websites. Robert Murray, manager of the problem gambling project at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, said that as of now online gamblers represent only about 2% of total Canadian gamblers. However, he pointed out that the Internet was one of the fastest growing methods of gambling and would grow even faster if online gambling is sanctioned by the government.

Following in the footsteps of Ontario, the Saskatchewan province has made a similar announcement. CBC reported the Minister of Gaming, Ken Cheveldayoff as saying that the provincial government is "very interested" in the idea of online gambling and that the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation is "cautiously looking at" harvesting revenues that are accruing to offshore online gambling operators. Cheveldayoff also said pretty much the same thing about taking care of underage and problem gambling. He however did not set any date for this online gambling venture.

Along with showing interest in government run online gambling operations, the Canadian provinces are also applying the screws on privately run Internet casinos. Boss Media powered Casino Club has told its members that pursuant to the new Canadian policy it will be shutting its doors to Canadian players from September 24, 2010. It has asked its Canadian players to withdraw their balances by then. More online casinos catering to Canadian players may follow suit.

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