What is the difference between being licensed to operate an online casino and being certified as fair and safe in Ontario?

These two things — registration and game certification — are often lumped together in players' minds, but they're actually distinct layers of the same oversight system, handled by different parties and covering different questions.

Registration: who is allowed to operate

Internet gaming operators who want to join Ontario's regulated market must take steps with both iGaming Ontario (iGO) and the AGCO before being allowed to provide their products and services to players in Ontario. The AGCO side of that is a formal registration process — not a licence in the traditional sense, but a registration that carries the same legal weight. Being a fully registered and authorized operator in the igaming market means the organization has successfully received a registration by the AGCO and, with the exception of OLG.ca, has executed an operating agreement with iGO.

The registration vetting is about the operator itself: its corporate structure, financial standing, the people behind it, and its willingness to comply with Ontario's rules going forward. The AGCO determines eligibility and registers igaming operators and gaming-related suppliers to ensure the integrity of sector participants. It's essentially a fitness-and-propriety check on the business before it's ever allowed to take a single bet from an Ottawa player.

ITL certification: whether the games themselves are fair

Registration says the operator is legitimate. Certification says the games work honestly. These are tested separately. Any games and supporting critical gaming systems must be certified by an ITL (Independent Testing Laboratory) that is registered with the AGCO before being made available for play in Ontario.

The AGCO registers independent testing labs that test and certify that igaming technology meets the required Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming. Those labs examine the random number generators, game logic, payout calculations, and system security — not the company running the site. Testing needs to cover all games, random number generators, and pieces of igaming systems that accept, process, determine the outcome of, display, and log details about player bets. The AGCO itself does not directly test or approve igaming technology through its in-house gaming laboratory — that work is delegated to the registered ITLs.

The RNG standards are specific: random numbers must be statistically independent; all values within the desired range must have an equal chance of being generated; they must be able to pass various recognized statistical tests; and they must be unpredictable. An ITL's job is to verify those conditions are actually met in practice before a game goes live.

How they fit together — and what to look for in Ottawa

Neither layer is optional. To complete these steps, organizations will have met rigorous standards of game integrity, fairness, player protections, and social responsibility. On top of that, iGaming Ontario requires operators to obtain the Responsible Gambling Council's RG Check accreditation within the first two years of the operating agreement and maintain it for the remainder of their term. So by the time a site is fully live and legal in Ontario, it has cleared regulatory scrutiny of the company, technical scrutiny of the games, and a responsible-gambling audit.

For players in Ottawa, the practical check is simple: a regulated site displays both the iGaming Ontario logo and the BetGuard logo. Per iGaming Ontario, seeing those two logos together tells you the site is managed by iGO and regulated by the AGCO — registration and game certification are both baked into that status. You can also cross-reference any site against the official registry at igamingontario.ca.

If you ever need support, ConnexOntario is available at 1-866-531-2600. Ontario's legal gambling age is 19+.