William Hill Set To Make Canadian Departure

Gambling giant William Hill has announced that they will be pulling out of the Canadian gambling market starting today, the 10^th of May, 2016. While this may not be the first online casino to opt out of Canada, William Hill Casino was as sparse with their reasoning as the other big names that chose to leave the country.

William Hill Casino made their decision public via a very succinct email sent to all their subscribers where they explained their decision and the repercussion it will have on the players.

According to said email, the British operator declared that the withdrawal from the Canadian market was made for “regulatory reasons” that were out of the company’s control. The same mail also reassured players that despite the operator’s departure, they can still withdraw their balance at any point in time.

William Hill Isn’t The Only Big Operator To Leave Canada

William Hill isn’t the only major gambling operator to pull out of the Canadian gambling market with Ladbrokers, another big British operator leaving the market just two years ago without going into much detail about their decision.

The sports betting operator Betfair is another big name that retired from the Canadian market in December 2015 without much notice. Paddy Power also limited its contact with the Canadian market in 2011 only offering B2B services to the provincial lottery service of British Columbia.

Legislation Loopholes Allows For Some Wiggle Room For Foreign Operators

The Canadian legislation is clear when it comes to gambling, allowing mostly provincial lottery corporations to operate legally. Most companies have so far worked within a loophole of the law that allows internationally licensed operators to be active in Canada as long as none of their servers are actually placed on Canadian territory.

William Hill may have not yet finished all business in Canada as it recently contributed financially along with Sky Betting & Gaming in the acquisition of OpenBet by NYX Gaming Group.