The Continuous Growth of Canadian Gambling

For centuries gambling has been a popular pastime, but in the past couple of decades its growth has been unparalleled. Since the turn of the millennium, Europe has been leading the way when it comes to gambling growth.

However, in recent years North America has begun to catch up as strict gambling laws have been relaxed, allowing the industry to flourish. Whilst the United States as the home to the gambling hub of Las Vegas may steal all the headlines, Canada has more right to call itself the home of gambling in North America.

Read on to find out how and why the Canadian gambling industry is flourishing and why the future is bright for the industry.

Canadian Gambling: The Current State of Play

Las Vegas may post the biggest gambling revenues of any city in North America, but Canadian cities like Quebec and Montreal are not far behind. In the last financial year Quebec’s casino’s posted combined revenues of $963.7 million with Montreal posting similar figures.

However, land-based casinos are no longer the driving force of the gambling industry here in Canada or indeed, anywhere else in the world. The online sector is now one of the major revenue drivers in the Canadian gambling market.

Last year Canada’s total gambling revenues were $2.65 billion and over $1.2 billion of that revenue came from the online sector. However, according to a government survey over $1 billion of potential revenues is being lost by the Canadian gambling industry each year.

The reason for this is the government’s bizarre and confusing stance on online gambling. By law every online gambling provider in Canada must be licensed or run by the provincial government.

As a result of this, the Canadian online gambling market is not nearly as diverse as it should be, causing many players to register with foreign providers for better deals, offers and variety.

If the government were to adopt the same approach as their British counterparts, gambling in this country could well be posting annual revenues closer to $4 billion.

Canadian Gambling Habits

Whilst the amount of money leaving the country through online gambling may be startling, it is important to remember that despite this, gambling in Canada is still in pretty good shape.

Per capita Canadians spent $824.68 a year on gambling, which is significantly more than gamblers in the UK and the US. What is more interesting than how much Canadians are spending on gambling is how they are spending their cash.