Since 1999 Canada legitimated casinos. Games of chance become more and increasingly advanced here, despite it isn’t the capital of gaming. Still, the authorities tend to manage this sphere thoroughly.
The legal system for Canada’s gaming
Gaming is ruled by the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada and articles 204, 206, 207. These are the main laws that form the base for the gaming industry’s regulation. All subsequent directives and rules are developed on their base.
Article 204 of the Criminal Code of Canada includes provisions on horse racing and sweepstakes. In Article 206 there are stated types of unauthorized games and actions. And Article 207 outlines lawful games and actions. It is also stated in Art. 207 that each province is allowed to create own lotteries and manage the gambling industry within its borders.
Thus, every province adopted its legislation about gambling and they differ within 13 provinces of Canada. Several of them are liberal while others are more strict.
Some aspects of gambling in diverse provinces of Canada
Laws of provinces regulate the minimal age for playing games, the list of authorized and forbidden games.
For instance in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec a person, who reached 18, may be eligible for playing games of chance. In some other provinces, one must be 19 years old to try any allowed games of fortune. In diverse provinces, the list of lawful gambling games may vary dramatically. In Northwest Territories, the single national lottery is allowed, while in Nova Scotia one may choose among casinos, bookmakers, offline lotteries, and state online lottery.
In some provinces exist even a couple of original kinds of gambling. Similarly to rasino in Saskatchewan and Islands of Prince Edward. Rasino it’s a hybrid of casino and betting pool.
Commonly used games in Canada
Let’s first divide them into offline and online gambling. Offline pokie machines are more admissible by the authorities. Kinds of offline games authorized in Canada are electronic bingo, electronic and offline card tables, lottery tickets. Ontario is an obvious leader of gambling in Canada, as lottery tickets are found only in Ontario. This province has the biggest number of electronic and offline card tables. Also, Ontario has the most spread system of Electronic Gambling Machines – more than 22000 of machines throughout Ontario. The biggest number of electronic bingo games is situated in British Columbia.
Talking about houses for gambling on the web, it should be noted that in Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan all the forms of Internet gambling are deemed unlawful. In other provinces, some of the Internet games of fortune are legal while others are unauthorized.
The concept of online pokies in Canada includes instant scratch cards, lotteries, bingo, casino slots, board games, Ingenio, poker, sports betting, video poker. In British Columbia, the only Ingenio is forbidden. At the Islands of Prince Edward only scratch cards, lotteries and bingos are allowed. The province of Alberta holds the biggest part of charity gambling licenses – 15,055. It’s worth noting that the quantity of telling licenses, as a rule, includes only those organizations whose income from sales exceeds USD 10,000. The exception is Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Manitoba.
The gambling business in Canada is a case of successful mutual benefits between the authorities and the casino founders. By virtue of gambling locations, the provinces obtain a good budget income. The province of Ontario has the biggest government receipts from gambling in Canada. At the same time, the Islands of Prince Edward have the bottom income. From all the kinds of gambling, the solid majority of revenue comes from EGM.