The iGaming industry has been making a lot of headway worldwide. Countries around the globe are legalizing online casinos and imposing some pretty heavy restrictions, in an attempt to make gambling safer. For most of them, the campaigns have paid off relatively well.
On the other hand, there are also quite a few countries that refuse to budge on the topic, and maintain that banning iGaming is the best form of regulation. Canada stands somewhere in the middle. In this article, we’d like to examine whether Canada should legalize iGaming or not.
Canadian Online Casino Laws
Before we talk about the benefits of a legal iGaming market, we must first discuss the gambling laws as they are in Canada right now. According to Canadian laws, citizens are allowed to gamble, as long as they do so in licensed and regulated gambling facilities. These laws mainly apply to land-based establishments. So, what are the laws regarding online gambling?
Well, for the most part, iGaming is illegal in Canada. However, fret not, as Canadians can still gamble online. The laws prohibit any casino websites from operating within the country. However, residents can access the multitudes of offshore casinos. There are a lot of sites that can help you locate excellent options. For example, casinos.com is popular in Canada, and features some of the best websites for gamblers in the region.
There is more good news. Ontario has implemented unique laws regarding online gambling. Residents and visitors can gamble online in Ontario, and online casinos can operate within its borders. The province also offers licenses and regulates the casinos that operate within.
Are There Benefits to a Legal iGaming Market?
Now that we are familiar with Canadian laws regarding online casinos, it is time we discussed the benefits of a legal iGaming market. The first question is, are there any benefits? To answer this, we need only take the example of countries that have legalized iGaming.
The United Kingdom for example, has a thriving online casino industry. Annually, they produce millions of pounds in gross gaming revenue, and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission is one of the most trusted gambling licenses in the world. For the most part, iGaming has significantly benefited the country.
We shall now take a look at a few of the positives that come with legalizing iGaming in Canada, and we will close the article off talking about the downsides. If you are, at all, interested in gambling and the legalization of it, we hope you stick around to the end.
An Economic Benefit
Let us be honest, most governments work in service to the economy. Whether we are talking about local currency and businesses, or the strengthening of the national economy, that is what most politicians are interested in. So, why not start with the most pragmatic of ways that iGaming legalization would benefit Canada? The economic.
We said before that the UK gambling industry produces millions of pounds in gross gaming revenue. However, that was not quite accurate. In 2022, the combined efforts of the land-based gambling and iGaming industries produced over 12 billion Pounds. Even just accounting for online casinos, the number still exceeds a billion.
We can take a closer look, at Canada’s southern neighbors. The United States still has not legalized online gambling nationwide. However, the state of New Jersey has embraced iGaming with open arms. Since then, they’ve managed to create a thriving market that generates millions, thus significantly boosting the State’s economy.
If Canada were to legalize online casinos operating within its borders, the government could benefit significantly from the market. Gambling revenue would be taxable, and certainly most Canadians would not go to offshore websites. In other words, the economy would see a pretty significant surge.
The “Freedom” Argument
One pretty major argument used by Canada’s southern neighbors in favor of legalizing online casinos is the “Freedom” argument. Basically, the idea is that individuals should be free to do what they think is best for them. If that includes gambling, then that is what they should be allowed to do.
While somewhat idealistic, there is a lot of truth to the freedom argument. For one, the American 1920s showed us how effective prohibition is – which is to say not at all. Once you take a commodity away from people, they will find a supply somewhere else. It is the very essence of the supply – demand market, which the Western world is so proud of.
In the 1920s, the government of the USA took away legal supply of alcohol. Subsequently, the Mafia families who jumped on the bootlegging business rose to incredible power. It was only when alcohol was legalized that their power dropped significantly. By then, however, they were already big enough to run certain cities in the USA.
An even more apt comparison would be the gambling market in Japan during the 20th century. All forms of gambling were illegal. However, men still wanted to wager. The Yakuza would answer the demand of the people, and the organization grew incredibly powerful.
All this to say, if you ban a commodity, people will still find a way to do it. Therefore, it is much safer to make sure that the commodity is regulated by trusted authorities, or even the government itself. Online gambling legalization has worked in the UK, Finland, and all across Europe. It could certainly work in Canada.
The Argument Against
There are two major arguments against legalizing online casinos. One is the idea that online gambling will encourage more people to gamble, and therefore lead to problem gambling. According to all of the data that we have, there doesn’t seem to be any correlation between legalizing online casinos and a drastic rise in compulsive gambling.
The other reason is that certain studies have discovered that online casino players who already exhibit the problem are much more likely to succumb to stress or anxiety than land-based casino players who already exhibit problem gambling. However, online casinos are doing their best to make sure that their players remain safe, including partnering up with notable, problem gambling hotlines and organizations that promote responsible gambling.
