Alberta Budget Pledges $1M For Online Gambling Review, Eyes Revenue Growth

Alberta is allocating $1 million for an evaluation of its gaming rules, a prospective action towards an Ontario-like system of online sports betting and web gambling establishment video gaming that operators hope will ultimately emerge in the Western Canadian province.


Indeed, the Alberta government launched its 2024 budget plan on Thursday, and the $73.2-billion budget includes additional information about what the province plans to do about iGaming.


Alberta is weighing the concept of a competitive market for online betting along the lines of what was introduced 2 years back in Ontario, the only jurisdiction in Canada where the likes of bet365, DraftKings, and FanDuel can lawfully use sports wagering and iGaming.


Thursday's spending plan may assist make such a system possible in Alberta. That, however, could depend upon the result of a $1-million legal and regulatory review promised by the province's fiscal prepare for the year that will end March 31, 2025.


The budget states "$1 million in 2024-25 will support a review of the Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Act and supporting Regulation, with the goals of reducing the regulative concern on company and finding methods to increase contributions to Alberta charities and neighborhood centers."


That legislation permits the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) to "perform and manage" gambling on behalf of the provincial government, including the province's just regulated iGaming website, Play Alberta.


Moreover, the file laying out the Ministry of Service Alberta and Bureaucracy Reduction's business strategy for 2024-27 says it is "additional devoted to establishing and carrying out Alberta's online gaming technique, with a concentrate on accountable video gaming and provincial and Indigenous income generation.