Quebec Is Watching Ontario and Alberta. Is It Next?
Ontario has a regulated iGaming market. Alberta launches July 13. Quebec is still watching from the sidelines — but the sidelines are getting less comfortable.
For players in Quebec, this is more than a policy story. It’s the reason they’re playing on offshore platforms right now without any provincial protection in place. Understanding where Quebec’s iGaming conversation stands helps explain why that gap exists and whether it’s closing.
Where Quebec Is Right Now
Online gambling in Quebec currently runs through a government monopoly. Loto-Québec operates the provincial platform and holds exclusive rights to sports betting, casinos, and online gaming in the province.
Players who want anything beyond what Loto-Québec offers use offshore sites. There are a lot of them. An estimated 2,000 websites currently offer casino games, sports betting, and poker to Quebec residents with limited provincial oversight. A recent industry study put the annual gross gaming revenue Quebec is losing to those unregulated offshore platforms at $2.3 billion.
That number is difficult for policymakers to ignore and industry coalitions have made sure they’re not ignoring it.
The Push for Change
The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition, which includes major operators like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetRivers, and Entain, presented a formal brief to the Quebec Ministry of Finance earlier this year making the case for a regulated competitive market. The coalition’s argument is straightforward. Opening the market to private operators under a 20% tax on gross gaming revenue — the same rate used in Ontario and Alberta — would generate an estimated $300 million in annual tax revenue for the province.
The coalition also argues that the current situation leaves Quebec players exposed. Offshore platforms operate without Quebec consumer protections. There are no formal complaint mechanisms, no standardised responsible gambling requirements, and no regulatory body with jurisdiction over what happens to a Quebec player’s account.
So far the provincial government has held its position. The finance minister’s office has signalled opposition to allowing competition with Loto-Québec. The monopoly structure stays, for now.
The Advertising Problem That’s Making This Harder
Here is where Quebec’s situation gets more layered.
The national debate over gambling advertising has intensified significantly since Ontario’s market launched in 2022. Sports betting commercials during broadcasts, athlete endorsements, aggressive digital targeting — the volume of gambling advertising across Canada has drawn real public criticism.
Quebec politicians looking at the Ontario model see that advertising environment attached to it. Opening a competitive market means opening the door to a similar advertising landscape, and that’s a politically difficult sell in a province with strong cultural sensitivities around outside commercial influence.
The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition has acknowledged this directly. Voices within the industry have pointed out that Quebec could build its own model with stricter advertising rules rather than copying Ontario exactly. A regulated Quebec market could impose tighter restrictions, preserve Loto-Québec’s role, and still deliver the consumer protections and tax revenue that the current system fails to generate.
That argument is making more headway than it was a year ago. It still hasn’t produced legislation.
Something Has Shifted on the Political Side
The most notable development in recent months is on the opposition benches rather than in government.
The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition reports that opposition political parties are beginning to look more seriously at ending the government monopoly. That’s a change from the previous dynamic where the conversation was driven almost entirely by industry advocates. When opposition parties start engaging with the revenue and player protection arguments, the political calculus shifts.
It’s worth noting that Loto-Québec is also paying close attention to how the national regulated market is being built. The provincial lottery corporation recently joined a Supreme Court case related to interprovincial iGaming, specifically whether Ontario and Alberta could link their regulated markets to share player pools. Loto-Québec’s participation signals it’s watching how the architecture develops rather than assuming the status quo holds indefinitely.
What This Means for Players in Quebec Today
Nothing changes this month. Loto-Québec remains the only provincially regulated option. Offshore platforms remain accessible and widely used.
The practical reality for Quebec players is the same as it has been for years. Playing on Loto-Québec’s platform means provincial consumer protections apply. Playing on an offshore platform means they don’t. That difference matters if something goes wrong and it doesn’t go away just because offshore platforms are widely used and openly accessible.
What has changed is the momentum of the conversation. The revenue argument is on the table, opposition parties are engaging, and the advertising debate is forcing Quebec politicians to articulate what a made-in-Quebec regulated model might actually look like instead of just saying no to the Ontario one.
Quebec is not next in the way Alberta was next. But the gap between watching and acting has narrowed over the past six months in a way it hadn’t in the years before that.
Gambling is entertainment with a cost attached, so set limits before you play and visit our Responsible Gaming page for support resources, safer-play tools, and help options if gambling stops feeling fun.
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