Gambling is an integral part of Canada, and Canadians absolutely love to gamble. However, this wasn’t always the case, so do you know how it all started? In today’s article, we will be discussing the history of Canadian gaming and gambling laws. First of all, we will take a peek at how the gambling laws came to be.
How It Started
Before the voyage of John Cabot in 1497, the native people of Canada were already invested in gambling. The natives used to gamble with sticks, and after the arrival of outsiders with a deck of cards, they started gambling using modern means.
The Legalisation of Gambling in Canada
Manitoba was the first province to legalize gambling on its soil by opening the first Canadian commercial casino back in 1989. Before that, when the government induced the original federal criminal code in the Canadian constitution (1892), gambling was barely allowed due to its harsh laws.
In 1910, an amendment to the criminal code came into existence that allowed “Paris Mutuel” betting. That allowed a cut of the bet to be given to the track, the horse riders and the province. This cut was made by dividing winner and losers stakes. It was the official form of legal gambling in Canada until the government added section 207 to the criminal code, allowing provinces to regulate and legalize gambling independently.
The Current Gambling Law
The gambling laws in Canada are strict, as the central government prohibits gambling in any form according to the federal criminal code. But the same federal criminal code has section 207, which states that the provinces have the right to make gambling legal on their soil but have to regulate it themselves.
Thanks to that, different provinces and country’s territories have different gambling laws, legal games and legal betting age. As a result, the casino games you can enjoy will depend on which part of the country you reside in.
The New i-Gaming Structure
The world is changing, and the offline casinos and sportsbooks are no longer the sharks in the gambling sea. With the entry of online gambling, everything changed, and people prefer online casinos more than offline ones. That is why the Canadian government has taken steps to make it easier for its residents to enjoy online gambling.
The Canadian government has decided to develop Ontario as the new hub for online gaming. They will also provide gaming licenses to offer services to Canadians. The government made this decision during the 2019 budget and the new casino establishments are expected to be running by the mid of 2022. Because of that, Canadians will now be able to play online casino games legally.
Conclusion
The situation of gambling laws in Canada is improving as time passes and it seems that Canadians are firmly in favour of gambling. However, this was certainly not the case before, and it took the country over a decade to ease the gambling laws.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
