Where does legal authority over online gambling in Ontario actually come from and how do federal and provincial laws interact?

The Criminal Code is where it all starts

Canada's federal government holds jurisdiction over criminal law, and gambling sits squarely inside it. Part VII of the Criminal Code prohibits gaming in general, while section 207 allows for a number of exceptions to the general prohibition. The key exception — the one that makes Ontario's entire online gambling market possible — is that lottery schemes that are "conducted and managed" by provincial governments are lawful. The phrase "conducted and managed" is doing enormous legal work here. Historically, the conduct and manage role has been interpreted as being the "operating mind" of the lottery scheme being offered — for example, having the capacity to control the lottery scheme. That's why Ottawa can't simply license a private company to run a casino and call it a day; the province itself has to remain the controlling legal entity behind the scenes.

The practical result is that this requires a more rigorous and complex framework for gambling in Canada than what operators may be used to in some other jurisdictions where gambling is permitted. Federal law sets the outer boundary; provincial law determines what happens inside it.

How Ontario translated that federal permission into a live market

Ontario used the Criminal Code exception to build a two-layer provincial structure. On July 6, 2021, the Government of Ontario announced the establishment of iGaming Ontario as a separate and distinct legal entity to conduct and manage internet gaming in the province when provided through private gaming companies in accordance with Canada's Criminal Code. On May 12, 2025, the iGaming Ontario Act was proclaimed and iGaming Ontario became an independent agency. That independence matters: the iGaming Ontario Act continued iGaming Ontario as a corporation without share capital, establishing the organization as a stand-alone Crown agency, with ministry oversight transitioning from the Ministry of the Attorney General to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming.

The two bodies have distinct but interlocking roles. iGaming Ontario is responsible for conducting and managing igaming when provided through private operators — it's the entity that legally "owns" the scheme under the Criminal Code. The AGCO, meanwhile, is the regulator: it develops the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming, determines eligibility, and registers igaming operators and gaming-related suppliers to ensure the integrity of sector participants. In plain terms, iGaming Ontario holds the Criminal Code authority; the AGCO sets and enforces the rules. Gaming operators that have successfully registered with the AGCO and executed an operating agreement with iGO can offer their games to players in Ontario — operators offer gaming sites in the market on behalf of the Province in accordance with these agreements.

What this means for players in Ottawa

For anyone in Ottawa choosing where to play, this structure has a direct practical consequence: a site is only legally operating in Ontario if it has cleared both hurdles — AGCO registration and an iGaming Ontario operating agreement. Look for the iGaming Ontario logo wherever you play as a sign that you're playing on a site that is being conducted and managed by iGaming Ontario, offers player protections and meets Ontario's high standards for game integrity and responsible gambling. Regulated sites also display the BetGuard logo — BetGuard being iGaming Ontario's centralized self-exclusion service, launched in May 2026, through which any player 19+ can opt out of every registered Ontario operator in a single step. Seeing both logos is the quickest check that a site is genuinely inside the regulated market rather than an offshore operator with no legal standing in the province.

The full, current list of registered operators is published by iGaming Ontario — worth checking directly at igamingontario.ca rather than relying on any third-party source, since registrations can change. If gambling ever feels like something other than entertainment, ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600) is the province's free, confidential support line. The AGCO's Registrar's Standards also require that any player-set deposit or loss limit can only be relaxed after a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours — a deliberate friction built into the regulatory framework to protect players from impulsive decisions.