Over the past few years, the popularity of sports betting has been steadily increasing in Canada and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Obtaining a local license is now an option even for sportsbooks from overseas. Therefore, you are seeing an increasing number of well-known industry giants enter the Canadian betting scene.
Are the biggest bookmakers necessarily always the best ones? They aren’t. In fact, some smaller brands may offer you better conditions, bigger bonuses and higher odds. Ultimately, your choice of a betting website will depend on your personal preferences and what you are looking for.
As the title suggests, we are going to look at brands that have a local license, hence “regulated” ones and brands that don’t yet have one. Now, this doesn’t mean that they are “unregulated”, they simply don’t have a license from a Canadian regulator. Nevertheless, in most cases it is still legal to use their services for online betting.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission was the main regulatory organization in Canada for many years. However, recent regulatory changes resulted in the need to put in place more controls and this brought about a new regulatory body called iGaming Ontario. As you might have already guessed from the name, this is a regulator specific to one province – Ontario. Going forward, we will likely see more province-specific regulators and licenses.
Bill C-218, also known as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, is a proposed piece of legislation that aims to legalize single-event sports betting in Canada. Before this bill, under the Criminal Code of Canada, only parlay (also known as accumulator) betting was allowed. It required bettors to place bets on the outcome of multiple sporting events.
Following the passing of Bill C-218 on June 22, 2021, single-event sports betting became legal in Canada, allowing Canadians to bet on the outcome of a single sporting event, such as a football game, hockey match, or boxing bout.
We decided that we aren’t going to cover the bigger and better-known brands here, as you have already heard about them many times in the past. Instead, let’s explore some sportsbooks that recently entered Canada or ones that are still relatively small.
As we stated at the outset, we will provide examples of reputable betting sites that hold local licenses, as well as those that do not. Even though some will not have a Canadian license, they will hold valid licenses from the biggest international regulators.
Even though Leonbets has been around for quite some time (since late 2007), people in Canada haven’t heard about them up until 2019, which is when they obtained their Kahnawake license.
As a new player, you can take advantage of a risk-free bet offer. The size of your risk-free bet will depend on the size of your first deposit. If you’re not familiar with risk-free bets, they allow you to get your stake back if your bet loses.
Leon bets support Interac bank transfer payments and you can also use crypto currency to top up your account and request a withdrawal. Original Canadian betting brands don’t often support crypto payments and even when they do – you are likely limited to just Bitcoin. Leon, on the other hand, has several different digital assets you can choose from.
NeoBet Canada has originally entered the local betting scene a couple of years ago with an MGA (Malta Gaming Authority) license. Now, they have officially been granted an Ontario iGaming license, which means they are open for all sports fans from Ontario.
The process to get an Ontario license is quite lengthy and requires a lot of effort from the sportsbook’s side. Having that in mind, the fact that Neo Bet now have this license, means you can consider them to be a reasonably reliable betting brand.
As a new user, you can enjoy a flexible and player-friendly three-step welcome package, where you will receive a bonus for each of your first three deposits. Among the three brands we mention here, NeoBet provides the most accommodating welcome offer.
1Bet Canada is the least famous brand on our list and while the two ones we mentioned above have a local license – 1Bet doesn’t. As we already explained before, even though 1Bet doesn’t have a Canadian license, it still has a Curacao Gaming License (No 8048/JAZ). Obviously, this is a different regulator, however this isn’t necessarily a red flag as long as you know what you are looking for.
1Bet is generally a decent betting brand with relatively high odds and a wide range of betting markets in leagues like NHL, NFL and NBA. Their focus on American sports and leagues is the exact reason why we decided to recommend them as one of the smaller and less known brands suitable for Canadian sports fans.
Finally, before we bring things to a closure, we would like to take a moment to talk about healthy betting habits. Sports betting is a hobby and something that should add some additional excitement to your favorite sporting events. It should not be treated as a source of income or as a way to resolve financial issues.
If you find yourself in a situation where you are no longer in control of your betting hobby – please take a break and look for help. We recommend checking https://www.gamblingtherapy.org/en – they have everything you need to get started, you can talk with trained professionals and discuss your issues in group sessions with other people.
