Alberta is launching an open online gambling market and setting conditions for unlicensed operators

Canada is set to have a second regulated online gambling market. On July 13, 2026, Alberta will launch an open iGaming market, ending Play Alberta’s monopoly and becoming the second province after Ontario where private operators operate under a formal licensing model. The market will be managed by a new entity called the Alberta iGaming Corporation. It will assume the role of organizer and regulator of all activities.

The Model Mirrors Ontario’s Experience

Alberta’s financial framework is almost entirely modeled after its neighbor’s. A 20 percent revenue-sharing model is applied to gross gaming revenue, mirroring Ontario’s structure, which guarantees the province a direct share before operator expenses are deducted. In 2025, the Ontario market posted its best results since launch, generating 4.04 billion Canadian dollars in annual revenue—a 34 percent increase over the previous year.

The only difference is in scale. Alberta has a population of about 4.8 million, while Ontario has 15.4 million, but Ontario leads Canada in per capita disposable income. This factor may partially offset the smaller audience size.

The main goal is channeling, not revenue

The success of the launch will be measured by how many games can be moved to legal platforms. According to Alberta’s estimates, unregulated operators currently account for about 70 percent of online gambling in the province. It is precisely this gap that the new system is intended to close. The province expects to move 70 percent of online gambling to regulated sites in the first year and increase that figure to 75 percent in the second. These expectations are based on the experience in Ontario, where channeling has since climbed above 80 percent, reaching roughly 83.7 percent.

Gray-market operators have been given a strict condition

For unlicensed platforms, the launch date has become a deadline. Authorities have warned that companies that continue to operate in the gray market after the July launch risk permanently losing access to the regulated system. The first withdrawals have already begun. Coolbet announced that it is officially ceasing operations in Alberta on July 13, citing regulatory changes that will prevent it from providing services without a local license.

At the same time, demand for legal access remains high. Less than a week before the launch, 49 operators had completed registration, and many plan to enter the market on July 13.

Alberta is attempting to bring a large and long-established gray market under regulation in one fell swoop. And it is making it clear that remaining outside the regulatory framework now means losing out for the long term.