• By: Allen Brown

Ontario Reaches Highest Ever Gambling Spending in Q3 2024

It’s been an interesting and exciting few years for online gambling in Ontario. While gambling over the internet has never been illegal as such, the laws related to it haven’t always been the clearest. That all changed in April 2022, when Ontario became the very first Canadian province to formally legalize online casinos and sportsbooks. 

The province’s fully regulated online gambling system seems to have been a major success so far. People can freely access sites such as Betway Casino Canada, knowing that online gambling is safe and they’re protected in the event of something going wrong. The launch of the regulated online gambling market coincided with the creation of iGaming Ontario, a government body focused on regulating gambling activities.

Ontario’s Online Gambling Spending for Q3 2024

In Q3 2024, players in Ontario spent around CAD 22.7 billion gambling online. This is the province’s highest such figure on record. When iGaming Ontario announced the quarterly figure, it confirmed plans to release reports on a monthly basis going forward instead of once every three months.

The Q3 figure was 22% greater than 2024’s Q2 figure. It was also 32% higher than the corresponding Q3 figure for 2023. Both of these show how much more widespread gambling over the Internet has become in Ontario since the formal legalization of gambling sites. 

When it comes to the different types of online gambling, casino games prevail. Of the CAD 22.7 billion spent in Q3, roughly CAD 18.9 billion (83%) was spent at casino sites. This was an increase of 38% compared with the previous year.

As for the rest of the money, it was mostly spent on sports betting. Like casino games, online sports betting has increased in popularity, with 10% more money spent on it in Q3 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. 

What Does This Mean for Online Gambling in Ontario?

There’s a very good chance that throughout 2025, figures for online gambling in Ontario will reach new peaks and break records. One thing that can be said for certain is that iGaming Ontario has had a successful few years since its launch. It’s managed to generate much interest in the Ontario market. In the near future, even more operators from overseas countries could work with iGaming Ontario to offer their services to the province’s players.

It’s important to point out that iGaming Ontario isn’t focused on numbers and raw data. The organization’s goal is to provide players in the province with an online gambling network that’s safe and regulated. 

So long as iGaming Ontario continues to regulate the industry and protect players, online gambling in Ontario will undoubtedly continue to thrive. The amount of money generated from people gambling over the internet should stay high; the advantage of this is that large sums of money can go towards various good causes and initiatives.​ There’s no way of predicting what 2025’s total figures will be, though it’s very likely they will be higher than those for 2024. 

Source:

https://igamingbusiness.com/gaming/online-casino/ontario-online-gambling-spend-record-q3/#:~:text=Online%20casino%20spend%20reaches%20new%20high&text=Ontario’s%20Q3%20ran%20for%20the,another%20new%20record%20for%20Ontario.