Online Gambling Canada Guide for 2024

Joining a Canadian online gambling site has its benefits. You can play Microgaming’s Games of Thrones slot or bet on the CFL. You can even play the Sunday Million poker tournament for your piece of the $1 million guaranteed prize pool.

The top online gambling sites in Canada make it easy to enjoy your favorite gambling options because they offer convenient banking methods, specifically for Canadians. For example, many sites allow you to use Interac to make deposits and withdrawals.

These sites also offer incredible bonuses that give you even more money for your bankroll. They also make it easy to gamble anywhere with the best online gambling app in Canada.

But none of these benefits mean much if you don’t join a safe online gambling site, which is why we recommend the best Canadian gambling sites right here.

Best Canadian Gambling Sites for 2022

There are plenty of options for real money online gambling in Canada. Although, not all of these options are worth your time and money. It’s possible to waste quite a lot of that time and money trying to discover the best sites for gambling online.

As you’re here, you don’t need to worry about that. We’ve recommended the best online gambling sites for Canada so you can get started with a trusted and reputable site right away. You can sign up at any of our recommendations and be assured of a positive experience.

Want some more guidance on online gambling from Canada first? Or want to know how we separate the best real money gambling sites from the others? Then read on, as we have you covered.

We get it, you’re skeptical — especially online — and you have every reason to be. The internet is still the Wild West. Fly by night gambling operators exist, preying on gamblers like you with their stolen games, rogue terms, and criminal intent.

That’s why we exist. We do the research to weed out the bad actors so that readers like you have a fighting chance.

But why should you listen to us, and how do you know you can trust our recommendations? That’s a fair question.

Instead of saying you should simply trust us, we think a better approach is to show you how we come up with our list of the best Canadian gambling sites.

We conduct an intensive review of every online gambling site we recommend. This task requires a lot of time and resources.

It’s worthwhile, though. This is where we sift through the dirt to uncover each site’s strengths and weaknesses.

There are many things we look for, but the following shortlist takes top priority.

Gambling License

Every gambling website we recommend must have a license. This tells us they applied, paid their dues, and that a gambling commission vetted them.

Reputation

We do extensive research to learn how the operator treats their customers. We don’t recommend gambling sites that lie, cheat, or steal.

Terms and Conditions

We inspect the terms and conditions under a microscope to ensure the house rules are fair.

We don’t compromise on these priorities and neither should you.

A license, stellar reputation, and reasonable house rules are a good place to start, but they’re not enough. A real money gambling site can still suck if they drop the ball in any of the following areas.

Games

We note the games you can play, betting limits, and features.

Software

Gambling has a major impact on your experience. It affects the games you can play, features, graphics, and whether you can gamble from your mobile phone.

Banking

We double-check to ensure the site accepts a variety of banking methods. Deposit and withdrawal limits are also important, as well as how fast they process cashouts. Gambling sites get extra credit if they allow you to deposit and play in CAD.

Promotions

We like to recommend online gambling sites that offer a variety of promotions for each gambling product. This includes offers like deposit bonuses, free spins and bets, and rebates for the casino, sportsbook, and poker room.

We take all the information we find and write up a detailed review. You’ll find everything you need to know about a Canada gambling site to determine if they’re a good fit for you.

One quick note about these priorities before moving on… There’s more forgiveness for these qualities because “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Meaning, every gambler has a different idea of what the perfect gambling site looks like.

As far as we’re concerned, so long as a site is safe and offers a ton of betting options, banking methods, and promotions, they’re worth recommending.

Our next step is to choose which sites we want to recommend. This is on a category-by-category basis so that we only suggest relevant sites.

For example, we recommend only the best online gambling sites for Canadians on this page. We collect the best matches, order them from best to worst, then list the top-rated choices on our Canada-themed pages. That’s our process.

As you can see, we spend a significant amount of time and resources to find the best Canadian online gambling sites. We do this so that you don’t have to.

Gambling online isn’t difficult. But if you haven’t done it before, then you don’t know what you don’t know.

You might have no idea where to start first. But that’s okay, everyone starts at square one.

We’re going to get you up to speed. The following are the steps you’re going to take to start gambling online today.

• Choose a site. Start with our recommendations. You can also compare gambling sites across multiple categories to find the best one for you.
• Create an account. Find the “create account” or “sign up” button. Fill out the form with your name, email, address, phone number, etc. Then, check your email to confirm your account.
• Make a deposit. Go to the cashier and choose the banking method you want to use. Then, follow the instructions. Hit submit and wait. Your money should be ready within minutes.
• Play/bet. Decide if you want to gamble from your phone or laptop. Choose a game to play or bet on.

This is as simple as it gets. You can start playing your favorite slot or poker game, or betting on your favorite sport, in the next few minutes if you act now.

Now, there are other things you should learn if you’re new and want a seamless gambling experience. Start with the following articles.

Gambling Promotions

Discover the promotions online gambling sites offer, how they work, and why it’s crucial you read the terms and conditions before you claim one.

Gambling Safety

Learn how to stay safe from hackers and scam artists when you gamble online.

Online Gambling FAQ

Read our answers to the most common questions we receive about real money gambling online in Canada and around the world.

Beginner Tips

Learn from our massive list of gambling tips for beginners.

Read each guide and you’ll achieve pro Canadian gambler status before you know it!

We’ve spent plenty of time ranking the best Canadian online casinos on the web and on mobile. Our selections are much better than the industry average, but you shouldn’t simply trust anyone on the internet without proof.

Here are more details about our recommended sites that will help you understand why we chose them.

We don’t know where to start with Betway Casino because it’s simply so good. You can enjoy the best games from top developers like Microgaming, NetEnt, IGT, and a bunch of other respected studios.

The variety of high-quality slots is staggering and there are also table games, video poker, specialty games, dice games, and more. You can add to that the beautiful Betway Live Casino supported by studios like Evolution Gaming and Pragmatic Play.

Most games are available on the go, too, either via the mobile-responsive site or using one of the real casino apps developed by Betway.

If you decide to join Betway Casino, you can obtain a nice welcome bonus and there are plenty of other promotions later on.

If you prefer games developed by Playtech, you will find hundreds of them available at Casino Tropez. The best slots by the studio are all here, as well as roulette, blackjack, video poker, and other games.

There’s also a live casino with flexible limits and different sets of rules for many popular titles.

Casino Tropez offers generous bonuses for new players and plenty of other promotions designed to reward all loyal customers.

The reputation of Casino Tropez is excellent and it’s one of the safest options thanks to the legit gambling licenses and the modern security measures.

Not many real money casino sites have survived since the 1990s. Jackpot City has done that and is still going strong thanks to the desire to deliver an excellent experience to every customer.

The core of the site is the impressive selection of games produced by Microgaming. All of the studio’s best slots are here, and this is arguably the best option to play online slots.

Most games are available on mobile too and you can claim a huge welcome package if you want to try them. There’s always a way to add extra cash when you gamble online at Jackpot City Casino thanks to the constant stream of promotions.

We also like the large variety of banking options and the fast payouts that you can enjoy at this Canadian casino online.

No list of top casino sites would be full without Spin Casino. The company works with two of the best studios in the entire industry.

Microgaming is behind most categories of games, including slots, table games, video poker, and more. Evolution Gaming supports the Spin Live Casino. The variety and the quality of the selection are great, allowing you to have countless hours of fun playing real money casino games.

If you decide to play at this casino, you can grab a solid welcome bonus and then keep earning extra value thanks to the generous promotions at your disposal.

If you want to safely gamble online, Royal Vegas Casino is easily one of the best choices. The operator is fully licensed and offers a strong selection of Microgaming products that work both on desktop and on mobile.

There are hundreds of slots, as well as blackjack, roulette, video poker, and even a smooth live casino. This is perhaps the best option for progressive jackpots. The prizes available at Royal Vegas Casino frequently reach millions, so you can become rich overnight.

If you decide to give them a try, there’s a large welcome package for new Canadian players and plenty of promotions for existing customers.

The best online casinos for real money in Canada are in a never-ending war for attracting new customers and keeping them. That forces them to offer more and more incentives to the players in the form of bonuses and promotions. Here is more information about the welcome bonuses on our recommended sites.

Let’s not forget that the offers above only cover the bonuses available to NEW customers. There are plenty of regular and exclusive promotions when you complete them. Here are a few examples.

That’s only a fraction of the offers you can find and the top casinos online are always working hard to surprise their customers with even more prizes.

The following are a few perks you can enjoy if you choose to gamble online in Canada.

Convenience

Bet on your favorite games from wherever you are so long as you have internet access. This includes your couch, car, doctor’s office, bathroom, etc.

Mobile

You’re not limited to gambling from home or the casino. You can gamble from just about anywhere in the world.

Lower Costs

Try playing blackjack for $1 or Texas Hold’em for $0.01/$0.02 in your local casino. It won’t happen. But you can online.

Variety

Offline casinos have a limited selection of games and machines. There’s only so much they can fit inside a building. This isn’t a challenge online gambling sites face, though, which is why they can offer hundreds if not thousands of games and machines.

Promotions

Brick and mortar casinos offer deals too, but nothing like online gambling sites do. Gambling sites offer deals such as deposit and reload bonuses, free bets, rebates, and more.

Online gambling in Canada makes sense. And this isn’t even all the benefits Canadians get to enjoy. There are others.

For example, you can bet on the most popular sports in Canada. That includes ice hockey, the Canadian Football League, the NFL, soccer, and baseball. You can bet on these games online while watching them in real time.

This is key. Someone in Timbuktu might be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. They can bet on their games, sure, but how often can they watch a game in person?

Canadian gambling sites also use excellent software that sites in some other countries don’t. For example, you can play casino and poker games from Microgaming, Quickspin, Evolution Gaming, and Playtech.

And if you ever want to take a break from online gambling, there are several local casinos you can check out. For example, Casino Niagara, St. Eugene Golf Resorts Casino, and River Rock Casino Resort.

The bottom line is that there are many reasons why Canadians should gamble online and few reasons not to.

Now that you know a little bit about the benefits, we want to continue our online gambling Canada guide with more information about the gambling options you will find on these sites. Canadians have access to different software providers and sports markets that might not be available elsewhere, so we will introduce you to some of the best options.

If you are a casino player, you will love all the options you will find on the best Canadian online gambling sites. Canadians can play games from some of the best software providers in the online casino industry, including Microgaming, NetEnt, Evolution Gaming, and Playtech.

Many casino sites work with several providers so that you can find all of your favorite games on a single site. As a result, most online casinos have hundreds or even thousands of slot games and dozens of table games. Here are some of the top casino games in Canada.

These games represent some of the most popular games in Canada, but they are just the beginning. Almost every online casino offers slot machines, a few table games, and typically live dealer games. The table games typically include blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps, table poker, and other card games.

Some Canadian online gambling sites also offer video poker, bingo, keno, digital scratch cards, and other specialty games. The options for these games vary widely from one casino to the next, but they are an excellent way to add variety to your online gambling experience.

In addition to casino games, the best online gambling sites in Canada also typically offer sports betting. The sports you can bet on vary from one site to the next. Many online betting sites tend to favor US sports leagues. That is why we work hard to find Canadian gambling sites that specifically feature Canadian sports. Here are some of the sports and leagues that matter to Canadian bettors.

Many Canadians follow American sports, especially leagues like the NBA, NHL, and MLB, because these leagues incorporate both American and Canadian teams. So you can expect to have a wide range of betting options for American sports, but you don’t want to overlook leagues and sports that are specific to Canadians.

The good news is that most Canadian gambling sites feature a wide range of sports that Canadian fans will enjoy betting on. You may need to join multiple sportsbooks to get odds on all of your favorite sports, but there are several sites that include these sports in their betting markets.

To help you choose online poker sites that align with your preferences, we recommend creating a list of sites to consider, including our recommended sites as a starting point, then comparing them based on your own criteria while ensuring they meet your safety and security standards.

Using a table like this will help you rank various betting sites in different categories. That will help you narrow down your options. If you get to the point where you are stuck between two or three different sites, check out our in-depth gambling site reviews to learn more about the sites you are considering.

Betting websites offer a range of bonuses and promotions, including welcome bonuses that double your initial deposit, but it’s important to read the terms and conditions before choosing a bonus as each site has different maximum bonus amounts and wagering requirements. It’s also worth considering ongoing promotions for existing customers.

These are just a few examples. Many online sportsbooks in Canada change their promotions regularly, so different contests and bonuses are always available. The more bonus options you have, the more likely you will be able to find ones that work well for you.

Sports betting is legal throughout Canada, but the sites you have access to and the types of betting vary by province. Here is a little information on sports betting options by province. We have also linked additional resources so you can find out more.

Legal sports betting in Canada focuses on options that have been licensed by the provincial government only. For example, many provinces use their lottery corporation to manage sports betting. In addition to these province-regulated sites, Canadians can access out-of-area online bookmakers.

Bovada Poker Ignition Casino 888 Poker

There are several key factors that we dive into when we’re establishing our rankings for the top Canadian poker sites online. We’re not looking to recommend internet poker rooms that are just satisfactory, we’re looking for the sites that offer the best possible all-around experience.

This means that poker sites need to perform well in a number of key areas to make our list. Let’s take a look at some of the most important.

The Canadian real money poker sites that have received our stamp of approval are licensed in reputable jurisdictions

We will never recommend a website unless they make it easy for players to deposit and withdraw funds.

We participate in online poker forums and social media groups for feedback and firsthand experiences, considering patterns and longevity as indicators of a reputable poker site.

The top Canada poker sites place an emphasis on the player experience, so they’re readily available over the phone and through email. Some sites have live chat functions.

If you’re going to spend time in an online poker room, the virtual environment is definitely a factor. We evaluate relevant design details, including ease of use, because intuitive navigation is key.

Even if everything looks great on the surface, in large part, the volume of players will dictate the quality of your experience over the long haul.

When you tap into the world of online poker, you add an exciting new dimension of entertainment to your life.

The convenience is off the chain when you can play from anywhere at any time. This is the most overarching benefit, but there are a number of other reasons why online poker is the way to go.

Learning how to play poker can be challenging in a land-based casino environment, where experienced players don’t have patience for newcomers; however, playing poker online with small stakes or for free can provide a less pressured environment to learn and broaden your skillset.

You can also learn to play variations of poker that you’re not familiar with to add variety and broaden your skillset.

When you first sign up on one of our highly-rated Canadian poker sites, you will be greeted with some type of welcome bonus. In many cases, it will be a percentage of your original deposit, and it can actually be 100%. There’s nothing better than free money, and there are other promotions beyond the signup bonuses.

You never have to worry about tipping anyone off when you play at the Canada poker sites online, because you cannot be seen. On the surface, this may not seem like a big deal, but you can rest assured that winning players do exploit tells to gain an edge.

There are a few different types of games that can be played at real money online poker sites for Canada players. The exact offerings will depend upon the policies of each respective site. There are also different formats.

You have options, and when you understand all of them, you can add variety to your poker playing experiences. Here’s a look at the various different formats and games that are most commonly available.

Online poker rooms typically offer three different structural formats. When you get into a cash game, you can come and go as you please. If you choose to do so, you could play one hand then pick up your chips and leave the table. You keep whatever you win on any given hand.

Tournament play is another option. Everyone that’s participating will pay a buy-in fee, and the accumulation is the prize money minus the cut that is raked by the house. All players are given the same amount of tournament chips, so everyone starts out on an even playing field.

Sit and gos are the third option. This type of poker can best be described as a much smaller tournament with either six or nine players, but you have a better chance of winning. The final three finishers get shares of the prize money in a nine-player game, and for six-player sit and go tournies, it’s the top two.

Texas Hold‘em, found on all online poker sites, involves each player receiving two face-down cards, followed by the dealer revealing three community cards (the “flop”), with subsequent rounds of betting after the addition of a fourth card (the “turn”) and a fifth card (the “river”), before revealing the winner.

All our recommended top Canadian poker sites offer Omaha, where players receive four face-down cards, and must use two of their own and three community cards, with the option of playing high hand or hi/lo games where the pot is split between the highest and lowest hands.

Seven-Card Stud is another game that you often see in internet poker rooms.

To initiate a game, each player is dealt two cards face down and one card face up. Then, there are additional rounds with each player getting another card face up until everyone that has not folded has seven cards.

These are the three poker games that are most commonly played online, but there are some others, including the following.

Today, most of us use our smartphones for everything from online shopping to driving directions. You can also use your smartphone to gamble online. Here is a little information about mobile gambling apps in Canada.

The first thing you need to know is that there are two ways to access gambling apps. All of the best online gambling sites in Canada use modern software to create mobile-first websites. That means that they design their website to be used on a smartphone first and then expand it for desktop browsers.

You can access these mobile sites on any device, as long as it can connect to the internet. Mobile sites look and function almost the same as the desktop site you would access on your computer.

Some gambling sites also create native apps that you can download on your iPhone or Android. These apps are designed to work with your device’s operating system, so it will feel more like using other apps. But the games, bonuses and banking methods are the same. Only a few sites choose to make downloadable apps because they are much more expensive to create.

Many people use the term gambling app to describe both downloadable apps and mobile browser sites. Because mobile sites are far more common, the best online gambling app in Canada is probably a mobile site instead of a genuine app.

Some people prefer native apps because they work well with your device, while others prefer mobile sites because they don’t require memory, storage, or updates.

No matter how you decide to access mobile gambling sites in Canada, they are a great way to enjoy online casino games and sports betting options from anywhere.

Is online gambling legal in Canada? Yes …and no.

Online gambling is a gray area. Canadian gambling law doesn’t prohibit gambling on the internet so long as the operator or service provider has a license. That’s on the federal level.

But every province or territory also sets their own gambling laws. The result is that one form of gambling might be legal in one area while illegal in another.

For example, online poker is illegal in Quebec and New Brunswick, but it’s legal in Manitoba, British Columbia, and Alberta.

And online betting is illegal in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, but it’s legal in Manitoba, Alberta, and Quebec. So, it depends.

Make sure you pay attention to the minimum gambling age where you play, too. This also varies from one area to the next.

And what about offshore gambling sites? Well, it’s not entirely clear. We’ve come across a couple of cases where Canadians authorities determined that an operator was running illegally. It’s hardly precedent, though.

What’s clear to us is that there’s nothing for Canadian gamblers to worry about. Join one of our recommended online gambling sites for Canadians and there’s little risk of SWAT kicking your door down.

As we already mentioned, many gambling laws in Canada depend on where you live. We don’t want to bore you by going into a lot of detail about all the different territories. But we still want to make sure you have the information you need.

So, here is some information about the gambling laws in each territory. We have also included resources that can help you learn more about the laws in your area.

The top Canadian gambling sites we recommend on this page offer multiple types of gambling such as casino games, sports betting, esports, horse racing betting, poker, bingo, and more. These sites are great, but sometimes they’re not the best option for every type of gambling they offer. That’s why we have the following pages where we recommend online gambling sites for Canadian gamblers wanting to play or bet on something more specific.