Online Gambling in Canada Comes into Focus

The grey area in Canada looks about to be filled with favorable law and investment.

Friendly Non-Regulated Environment

According to American online gambling expert David Martin, this inevitability stems from what he calls “a de facto non-prosecution policy” currently in place in Canada. The lack of adequate provision for the criminal code leads Martin to conclude that the laws should be repealed.

No person has ever been charged with a penalty of any kind for playing online casino games; online casinos thrive under the loophole of the Criminal Code of Canada that only penalizes illegal gambling activity that falls under recognized areas of code. In other words, online operators have found many ways to avoid being classified under the current criminal codes in Canada.

Amaya Factor

Online provider giant Amaya is based in Canada, and is currently implementing an ambitious plan to take over the global online gambling market which was launched with

the technology developers $4.9 billion acquisition in August of 2014 of the gaming platform Rational Group’s assets, which include the massive online gaming brands PokerStars and Full Tilt.

Martin believes that this development was a strong step forward to build out Amaya's various platforms, precipitating Amaya's approval for inclusion by the Toronto Stock Exchange. Further, Martin points to the backing of the Canadian pension investment fund of Amaya as a major shareholder as another indicator of the legitimacy of online gaming in Canada.

Amaya is also planning to enter the American market, most likely via its PokerStars brand through New Jersey.

Inevitability Born Out

The legitimization of online gambling in Canada only seems all the more inevitable in light of current and future developments. One good testimony is the fact that nowadays there are already online casinos accepting Canadian players, catering to their needs and offering suitable promotions. These casinos include established names the likes of SlotsPlus Casino, Maple Casino and Omni Casino.