Ice hockey, snowy mountains, extreme kindness, whale watching—there are plenty of reasons to love Canada. But one fact about the Great White North most people don’t know is that online gambling is growing rapidly.
Searches for online casinos have skyrocketed in the past one year and COVID-19 has something to do with it. Here’s why:
When COVID-19 hit Canada early last year, the entire country went under lockdown. Businesses closed down. People lost jobs and nearly all industries suffered losses. Interestingly, the only casino industry experienced growth.
At the time, many Canadians quarantining at home had plenty of free time and little in their schedules. They couldn’t leave their homes to travel. They couldn’t watch sports or visit their friends.
For a significant number of Canadians, the best way to spend their free time amid COVID-19 was to try out online casino games. The trend soared quickly as more Canadians learned they could gamble online.
You see, Canada doesn’t license online gambling business. As such, many online casinos in Canada are based overseas in countries like Malta and the UK. Canucks are free to join these sites and gamble but this fact isn’t well known countrywide.
Canadians haven’t been flocking online casinos just because they have a lot of time to spare. Playing slots, poker, blackjack and roulette is exciting. Slots, for example, have colorful graphics, melodic tunes and a flow that keeps you hooked to the game for hours.
Slots are games of pure luck, though. And that’s why people who like to stay in control of games prefer to play poker, blackjack and more table games. The beauty of these games is that you can use strategies or skills to get an edge over the house.
In this age of live casinos, blackjack and poker can also be social. You can invite your friends to join you at an online casino. Then you could play Texas Hold’em while seeing and chatting with one another in real-time.
Top-rated casinos have hundreds of games to play. So, even if you don’t like the first game you come across, there are plenty of more games you can play: progressive jackpots, Megaways slots, lightning roulette, Keno, and bingo to name a few.
Stories of Canadians winning millions of dollars at online casinos have been trending for the past decade. In 2015, a lucky Canuck hit headlines after winning $7.5 million from a popular jackpot game—Mega Moolah.
At least a dozen people have won at least $1 million each at online casinos since 2015. These stories, plus more testimonies from people who won smaller amounts of money have been inspirational to a lot of newbies.
That said, let’s get one thing clear. Not everyone who plays online casino games in Canada wins. It all depends on your luck. You could wager $10 and $100 or could lose your bet.
All the same, Canadians impacted financially by COVID-19 have been trying their luck at online casinos regularly. Some people have won. Others have lost. But most people have been enjoying these games, nonetheless.
Many first-time casino players are afraid to risk their money on slots and poker. Some people are not sure whether they can trust online casinos. Others simply don’t want to risk their money.
Online casinos in Canada have been making thins easy by giving out bonuses to newcomers. The requirements are straightforward. You sign up for an account and receive free spins to play slots. Or you make your first deposit and the casino doubles your bankroll.
Depending on the operator, you can receive a wide range of bonuses at online casinos. Some websites, for example, reimburse some of your losses. Some enter you into a VIP program where you can win cash prizes and receive preferential treatment in exchange for gambling high amounts of money.
A decade ago, finding an online casino that could process payments quickly in Canada was stressful. Many offshore casinos didn’t even accept Canadians back then. And those that welcome Canadians weren’t always trustworthy.
Things have changed: many online casinos in 2021 are safe. The explanation is that regulation had advanced both in Canada and overseas. Locally, nearly all ten provinces now accept one or more forms of online gambling.
Overseas, all genuine casinos are required to apply for licenses and follow specific codes of conduct. One such code is to provide safe banking. The best casinos allow you to deposit and withdraw money using your preferred payment option.
You can use Interac, iDEBIT, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Bitcoin, Skrill, Neteller or bank transfer. Crucially, the fees are low and you can deposit from $10 to $10,000. You can also withdraw up to $100,000 at high-stakes casinos.
COVID-19 might have driven Canadians towards online casinos. But mobile casinos helped in the widespread growth of online gambling in the past one month. Over half of the country owns a smartphone.
And most smartphone owners in Canada identify as mobile gamers—Statista. Mobile devices are cheaper to own. They are lighter to carry and easier to pull out when you want to play casino games in any place compared to laptops.
What’s more, today’s mobile casinos have progressed tremendously. There’s no more dealing with buggy apps. There’s no more dealing with unresponsive games, lack of bonuses or poor customer service.
The standard mobile casino in 2021 is as efficient as its PC website counterpart. And that means there’s no need to play slots on your desktop computer when you can use an iPhone.
According to multiple studies, online gambling has grown tremendously in Canada since COVID-19 hit the country. People have been playing online slots and table games to escape the realities of the pandemic.
They’ve also been playing casino games for entertainment, to win money and to socialize with friends. Additionally, casinos are easier to access through mobile phones and you can even earn a bonus to play these games cost-free.
