Ontario Online Gambling

**Connie B** · 17 January 2023, 5:02 pm

Good Day!

I live in Ontario and have been doing a lot of research on the new regulations that have been applicable since April 4th. I wanted to share some of my learnings with you in case you want to target Ontario.

There are 68 online gambling brands (as of now) that have their Ontario license and are regulated by the AGCO (Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario). All of these brands come from 36 operators, and some of them are Canadian companies.

Marketing activity in Ontario is subject to a comprehensive regulatory regime (Standards & Policies) and must always be conducted in a compliant and socially responsible manner.

Here is a list of all of these standards and policies:

- AGCO Standards
- iGO Standards Marketing & Advertising Conditions
- iGO Brand Guide Policy
- Canadian Code of Advertising standards
- Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Ontario (FIPPA)
- Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
- Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Unsolicited Telecommunication rules

Affiliates who want to promote an Ontario casino/sportsbook licensed brand will need to make changes to their site in order to be compliant. Here are some of them:

- Only Ontario regulated casinos/sportsbook must be displayed on the website/page.
- Communications that induce, bonuses and credits are prohibited.
- Content must be accurate and truthful.
- The website's content should not target underage, self-excluded or high-risk individuals.
- Links to Responsible Gaming sources for Ontario (i.e., ConnexOntario) should be included.
- An image of +19 must be visible and accurate on the site.
- A copy line indicating the allowed age to play in Ontario must be included on all marketing and advertising materials.
- The iGO logo guidelines must be followed: Visible in size, correctly and not implying a joint venture, sponsoring, co-organizing or a collaborator.
- The iGO Brand standards must be followed (No white/black design).
- Content must not have life-changing terms or promote guarantees on advertisements.
- Content must not appeal to minors, exploit superstitions or play upon fears to mislead the reader.
- Content should not imitate the content/illustrations from another Affiliate’s website.

AGCO has developed these rules to promote responsible gambling and protect minors, vulnerable people, and self-excluded players.

It might sound a bit difficult to make these changes, but it's not impossible. I have seen affiliates making these adjustments to their sites accordingly and able to promote regulated Ontario brands.

The popularity of online gambling has greatly increased in Ontario since April 2022. Many popular radio stations are advertising online casinos and sportsbooks. This is also true for TV commercials and outdoor advertisements. Some people are mistaken and believe that these advertisements are from the provincial government. Here is an interesting article on people's perceptions in Ontario: https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/how-much...otten-out-hand

If you are planning to target Ontario, I might be able to help.

Cheers,

Connie

**theGman** · 17 January 2023, 6:47 pm

Great information, thanks for sharing Connie

**Connie B** · 18 January 2023, 1:55 pm

Originally Posted by theGman

Great information, thanks for sharing Connie

Your welcome @theGman

**Connie B** · 19 January 2023, 3:19 pm

Hi Again,

I would like to mention some important information about Ontario.

- The largest concentration of people are living in Toronto(6.5 Million).

- Ontario's population reached 15,007,816 on April 1st, 2022.

- The province has the biggest % of immigration living in Canada. Ontario received 198,530 immigrants in 2021.

- The South Asian, Chinese and Black groups are the largest racialized groups in Ontario. In 2021, the South Asian population represented 10.8% of Ontario's population, followed by the Chinese population (5.8%) and the Black population (5.5%).

- English & French are the official languages but there is an increase of diversity of languages spoken at home. Some of those popular languages are Mandarin, Punjabi, Arabic, Spanish, Tagalog, Italian, Farsi, Korean, Portuguese, Urdu and Russian.

Sources:
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-r...1&HEADERlist=0

https://www.ontario.ca/page/about-ontario

https://canadapopulation.org/toronto-population/

**xecutable** · 22 January 2023, 3:19 am

In addition to all of the above listed requirements, if you are promoting brands that hold Ontario license on other pages, and there are offers present, you'd need a message that stats something within the lines of 'This offer is not available for people in Ontario'.

As a clarification, this is for people physically BEING PRESENT in Ontario. I was instructed by a brand that I promote, that I shouldn't be using the phrase 'residents of Ontario' as if they are not physically in Ontario, these rules do not apply to them.

As for the benefits of this market, one major one is tax free winnings, the other AGCO protection on disputes. A guy on reddit had a 153k win in triple 8 and wasn't getting it. I gave him a few numbers to keep on calling and bugging until his winnings were paid, and a few weeks ago told me the money have been finally sent (after 3 months of silence).

Probably best to talk you your managers, they will look over your content and see if anything was missed here, as the fines will be for them if you messed up something, so they'll make sure you have it all nailed down.

**Connie B** · 26 January 2023, 8:29 pm

Hello All,

Here is a market performance report for the third quarter (Q3) of the 2022-23 fiscal year covers market operations from October 1 through December 31, 2022.

Major Highlight: Average monthly spend per active player account of $167 in Q3 is 18% higher than in Q2

https://igamingontario.ca/en/igaming...ormance-report

Cheers,

Connie

**Pokerface** · 30 January 2023, 9:03 am

Great summary! Thanks Connie!

**Connie B** · 2 February 2023, 11:59 am

Originally Posted by Pokerface

Great summary! Thanks Connie!

Your welcome!

**CasinosJungle** · 14 April 2023, 8:56 am

Thanks for providing this helpful info, and in such a comprehensive way! Much appreciated.

**GambleOntario** · 16 May 2024, 3:43 am

What an informative post! It's great to have all this valuable information in one place. I really wish I had come across it sooner.

Speaking from my own experience, understanding the roles of different gambling authorities/policies/standards in Ontario was quite challenging at first. Figuring out what content (wording) is permissible and what isn't posed another hurdle.

It also took more than six months (even longer) for Ontario-based gamblers to realize the need to transition to Ontario-licensed online casinos and sportsbooks.

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