The general perception of sports betting is changing around the world, and Canada and the US are no exception. In the US, there has been a wave of legalizations across the country, and in Canada, a few of the provinces have taken small but meaningful steps towards opening up their borders to third-party providers.
Canada has a long road ahead of it in terms of legalization, but it could potentially learn from the example which many American states have set as they have progressed through the hurdles and setbacks of the legalization process.
Legalization in the US: An overnight transformation
Sports betting was illegal in the US up until a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2018 which opened up the possibility for individuals starts to decide whether or not they wanted to introduce sports betting. The Supreme Court judges struck down a federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, under the argument that this law had violated the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution.
This was essentially a states’ rights issue as the 10th Amendment holds that any of the powers which are not either delegated to the US by the Constitution or prohibited are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. In practice, this means that unenumerated powers are de facto reserved to the states themselves.
The 2018 decision did not legalize sports betting and gambling, but it gave states the right to choose how they legislate sports betting both in-person and online. The importance of this decision for the sports betting industry really cannot be understated as the result of the decision has been a wave of legalizations across the US.
Canadian baby steps and Bill C-218
All provinces and territories in Canada permit gambling in-person. Many provinces, such as British Columbia, also allow gambling and lottery playing on the province’s own online gambling and betting platform. Ontario stands out as the one province which is starting to allow third-party online gambling and sports betting platforms to operate in the province.
Bill C-218 was introduced into the federal Parliament in 2021 and, along with allowing third-party operators, it also reformed aspects of the Canadian Criminal Code which had previously outlawed single event sports betting.
Although there was a significant amount of debate around the Bill, once C-218 was passed, it allowed for a number of vetted and licensed sports betting operators to begin operations in Canada for the first time in Canadian history. This was a major success for the industry and for sports fans. There is now much less reliance on overseas operators for sports betting and the Ontario government has found a new and lucrative source of taxation.
While the trend toward legalization is really just beginning in Canada, it is very promising to see the success which Ontario has already enjoyed. The legalization process for sports betting across Canada is likely to be similar to that of marijuana for recreational use.
Other provinces are likely to follow the betting industry developments in Ontario and, as the industry grows and finds its feet in Ontario, you can be sure that other provinces will take note.
A global trend towards legalization
The US and Canada are not the only countries which are currently experiencing a betting and gambling boom. The online gambling and betting industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry and gamblers around the world are either accessing casino sites legally where they are based, or they are using tools such as VPNs to evade geo-blockers and play on gambling sites from other countries.
The result of this is that people who want to gamble will continue to gamble no matter what, but the country in which they live will lose tax revenue as a result of their citizens circumventing controls and gambling on foreign platforms.
This is something which legislators from around the world have realized, which is why there has been a global push towards legalizing gambling legislation. The global recession following an international pandemic has resulted in governments looking for more sources of revenue for important infrastructure projects and supports wherever they can.
The gambling industry is continuing to grow and while it is unlikely that every state, province and country will legalize gambling, there are now more places than ever before to gamble safely and legally.
