16.3% of Ontarians still wager using unregulated sites
A newly released study by the AGCO has highlighted recent consumer trends in the province.
Key Points
- The AGCO has released a study showing that 16.3% of Ontarians are wagering using unregulated iGaming sites
- This figure has been reduced from an estimated 70% prior to the province’s regulation in 2022
- The number of players engaging with unregulated sites has risen from the 13.6% reported in 2024
A study released by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission Ontario (AGCO) has highlighted a total of 83.7% of Ontarians now wager online using regulated sites – with the remaining 16.3% still turning to the unregulated market.
Indeed, April marks three years since Ontario became the first province in Canada to fully regulate its online gaming market and, to this day, remains the only Canadian province to have done so. As specified by this latest report, prior to the opening of the provincial market in 2022 it is estimated that around 70% of Ontarians wagered online using illegal and unregulated gambling sites – with that figure now having been reduced to 16.3%.
In more detail, the AGCO report also highlights that around 20.2% of respondents have also wagered on a combination of both regulated and unregulated websites in recent months.
However, perhaps more notably, engagement figures with unregulated gambling sites have risen by almost 3% from the 13.6% reported in 2024. Further, the 16.3% of people engaging with unregulated sites currently in the province represents the highest figure reported since this annual survey was first conducted in 2023.
Elsewhere, the report also highlights that nearly half (43.9%) of Ontarians have engaged with some form of gambling activities during the last year – with 31.5% having gambled in the last month.
Good to know: Last summer, plans were announced for the regulation of iGaming in Alberta – following the Ontario model
Earlier this year, iGaming Ontario posted the province’s revenue and wagering financial figures for the third quarter of the fiscal year, highlighting a revenue of $825.8m alongside a total wagering handle of $22.7bn.
In addition, reports from last summer also showed that Ontario’s online gaming market contributed $1.97bn towards the province’s GDP during its second year of regulation.
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