iGaming Ontario 2025 results: Growth continues at pace, but no FOMO
February 24, 2026
The legal Ontario online gaming market continues to grow at a significant pace, even though there has been no significant growth in the number of gaming brands that entered the market in 2025. iGaming Ontario (iGO) cracked the $4 billion mark on annual gaming revenue, with total revenue from casino, poker and sports betting verticals coming in at $4.038 billion. This is up over $1 billion from the $3.007 billion generated in 2024, a year-over-year increase in revenue of 34%. Ontario of course keeps 20% of that revenue figure, so their share rose from $601 million in 2024, to over $807 million in 2025. (Figures come from the official iGO market report.)
Casino is the major source of the 2025 iGO revenue growth
iGO Casino revenue for 2025 was $3.153 billion, which was up 40% from the $2.252 billion earned in 2024. Year-over-year, Ontario's sports betting revenue also grew significantly to $815 million in 2025, but at a rate of 19%. Although casino is clearly the star child in Ontario, the sports betting growth rate is right in line with its previous yoy revenue growth rate of 20%. Poker saw the most modest growth in revenue at around 3.6% to $70.2 million in 2025 versus 2024.
Other Canadian provinces continue to miss out on ever-growing online gaming revenues
Despite seemingly ever-growing deficits, while provincial premiers and federal leaders boast about knocking down inter-provincial trade barriers in the wake of the US President's trade war, we have seen little real progress in iGaming regulation and the inevitable boost in much needed public revenues. The exception is Alberta, which is moving considerably more slowly than operators have expected in their forecasts. But at least we know there is a destination for Alberta.
We now have over three and a half years of results from iGaming Ontario. In previous articles on SNBET, we've put some numbers together to reasonably estimate the amount of money that is being left on the table by failing to regulate iGaming in other Canadian provinces. Our premise is that other Canadian provinces could easily and without much cost, look to give their citizens access to the iGaming Ontario market, in the same way that BCLC has come to agreements to offer PlayNow.com to residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as these smaller markets might have found it difficult and costly to offer their own online gaming platforms.
With a failure to either replicate or link into iGaming Ontario, what money is being lost as it leaks to "grey market" operators based offshore? Since our past estimates were based on previous iGO performances, and 2025 results grew considerably, our estimates for the amount of public funds being left on the table by BC, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces should also grow considerably. Thus we have revised our estimates to show the kind of money that is being frittered away by refusing to take action.
How much money did Canadian provinces lose in 2025 by not regulating iGaming as Ontario has done?
We all know that 2025 was filled with uncertainty over running a business or holding a job in what are now far more precarious industries or sectors of the economy. Against that backdrop, as a reminder, online gaming revenue in Ontario increased 34% year-over-year. It's not just profitability that is up significantly. Casino wagers were up 30% year-over-year to $84.5 billion from $65 billion. Sports betting wagers were up 12% to $12.2 billion from $10.9 billion.
Our estimates in the above table for the potential gaming revenue figures in other provinces are adjusted by the relative median income levels for each province. If median income is 5% lower than that of Ontario, the adjusted gaming revenue is also adjusted by that same 5% lower. This isn't perfect, but it is a simple and reasonable way to estimate the potential size of other provincial gaming markets while accounting for the relative wealth of those markets, toward understanding the public revenues that are being lost.
Note that Alberta will actually have an effective tax rate of 22.4% in their market, not the 20% rate as used in Ontario and as noted in the table. Assuming Alberta attracts a reasonable number of operators, they should be able to realize over $300 million in iGaming taxes per year. We show that Quebec is missing out on nearly half a billion dollars a year in our estimate, while BC is near the $300 million a year mark in lost public revenues by not regulating iGaming, as their citizens continue to play at offshore brands, many of which operate within the legal Ontario market.
When will the rest of Canada wake up to the lost revenues of iGaming?
On the one hand, the silence from other jurisdictions regarding iGaming regulation is deafening. On the other, Loto-Quebec executives continue to gaslight the public, insisting that Quebecers overwhelmingly choose the "legal" Loto-Quebec online gaming options. The latter is far worse than silence. Given the presently dormant, but actually omni-present risk of Quebec secession, Quebec would never look to link into iGaming Ontario. They are however, large enough as a market to recreate it for themselves. They could easily generate over $2 billion in annual revenue, yielding around half a billion in tax revenue, to add to the pile of cash generated by Loto-Quebec. While other Canadian jurisdictions persist in their silent stubbornness to date, many of those may soften their stance as things develop. Unfortunately, we think Quebec will remain the ostrich for quite some time, given their overt hostility to the idea of market regulation.
But what about the rest of the country? In BC, NDP Premier Eby keeps growing deficits and will likely be more vulnerable than ever come the next election. On the positive side of things, BC Conservatives seem to be getting themselves in order, having narrowly lost in the last provincial election. Perhaps crucially, Caroline Elliott, running for the BC Conservative leadership, is having her campaign run by possibly the most consequential Canadian political advisor of recent times, Kory Teneycke. Mr. Teneycke has been pivotal during Ontario Premier Doug Ford's three consecutive election victories, and of course it was under Ford that iGaming Ontario was born. We cannot directly draw a line between regulated iGaming in Ontario and a potential future for it in BC through Mr. Teneycke, but the link here is very intriguing. We will be rooting for Ms. Elliott's leadership bid.
With regard to the rest of the country, although we remain frustrated by the lack of motion or even public discussion on the matter of iGaming regulation, we remain patient, knowing that all the remaining provinces in the discussion are likely too small to create their own iGaming markets. As such, one key element for these other provinces remains unfinished as they watch Ontario: the self-exclusion system. While this platform remains unfinished, provincial governments outside Ontario have a concrete reason to remain cautious, despite knowing that they are leaving millions on the table.
Online gaming remains a hot-potato issue that few want to touch. While the added revenues should be tempting for any government, adding this sort of revenue without the political cover of a robust and functional safety system could be a difficult political narrative to explain. So having that safety factor installed, working, and trusted likely remains a key reason that over 5 million Canadians from smaller provinces will have to wait, before their government leaders move for access to iGaming Ontario for their residents.
Once that long-awaited feature has demonstrated its worth in Ontario, premiers of all the smaller provinces should be on the clock, with no excuses left for not calling Premier Doug Ford to offer all iGaming Ontario platforms to their residents, and collecting their respective shares of the potential public revenues outlined above.
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