Ontario has opened its online casino market: what are the economic benefits?

The province of Ontario opened its online casino gaming market in April 2022, a first for Canada! On this occasion, the platforms of many private operators have been legalized, including those of Bet365, FanDuel or TheScore Bet.

But if the operators have to pay, each year, a registration fee amounting to $100,000 per gaming site and pay 20% of their profits to the province, what are the other potential economic benefits expected from the opening of the iGaming market in Ontario?

Ontario’s iGaming market: a job-creating sector

To date, some 20 private operators have been granted an online gaming license by the regulator, iGaming Ontario (iGO), a new division of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, which is responsible for overseeing and regulating this new market.

While no less than 700 online casino games are now licensed in the province, with more productions currently in development in locally based studios! Indeed, there is no shortage of virtual game development companies in Ontario.

For example, the young Toronto-based studio Rivalry is already developing online casino games as well as a sports betting platform for one of the newly licensed operators. ” We’re proud to be able to join the Ontario market, which is estimated to be worth over $1 billion ” says Steven Salz, CEO of Rivalry. ” The reason we were able to offer a homemade product to our customer is because we are fortunate to work in our facility “, he continues.

Note that TheScore Bet’s gaming platform, also designed in Toronto, has solicited the expertise of some 400 employees. TheScore Bet, which has its own premises in the province’s capital, plans to double its workforce and invest in new office space.

Millions in revenue for Ontario by 2025

Ontario’s recently opened iGaming market is expected to generate a very significant level of revenueThis money will allow the province to finance other development projects.

In April 2022, the province of Ontario’s auditor, Bonnie Lysyk, released a pre-election report attached to the provincial government’s multi-year fiscal plan. According to her, the iGaming Ontario regulator is expected to generate net revenue of C$18 million for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, which began on April 1. This would be followed by net revenue of $26 million in fiscal 2023-24 and $31 million in fiscal 2024-25.