Canadians are prolific users of gambling services. As revenue in the sector increases, more players are choosing online facilities over physical locations.
Few experiences can replicate the sights and sounds of the casino. The ring of slot machines, the tumbling of poker chips and the call of the roulette croupier all blend for a unique sensory experience. Yet a night out at the casino can be a big undertaking, and the convenience of online gaming beats this for many. With consumer behaviour shifting, more Canadians are playing online games instead of visiting casinos.
The Burgeoning Gambling Sector in Canada
As 2025 closes, estimates are that gambling in Canada will hit a revenue of $15.6 billion. By 2029, the sector will be worth an estimated $17.5 billion. Yet in many other parts of the world and emerging markets, it is sportsbooks that are driving growth; in Canada, it is online gaming.
This has been fuelled by a range of factors. They have included increasing transparency and safety, along with the quality and breadth of games on offer. New players have also been attracted by special offers, including no deposit bonuses for Canadian players. By letting them try games without having to make financial commitments, new demographics and markets have been easier to attract.
Online casino revenue will reach $9.6 billion this year alone and is a key driver in economic growth. Estimates are that 3.2 million Canadian citizens will attend these games, equating to 10.3% of the adult population. Around 7.5% of this group likes to use online table games. Blackjack has a participation rate of 45% and roulette has one of 38% amongst online players. This is higher than the global average in both cases.
Canada's laws on gambling are governed provincially, and of all these, Ontario has the longest-running and largest regulated gambling market. It opened its doors to iGaming in 2022 and has not looked back since. Revenue keeps hitting new highs and has grown 129% over the last three years. In the 2024–25 financial year, it made a milestone of C$3.2 billion in gaming revenue, a 32% increase in a year.
Its market is overseen by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), who issue licenses to operators. So far, there are 49 licensed operators in the province. They provide multiple platforms, giving a selection of 77 websites. This covers both casinos and sports betting websites.
Declining Footfall in Physical Casinos Across the Globe
In many parts of the world, the growth in online casino use has been blamed for the decline in visitor numbers at physical casinos. This is no different in Canada. However, this is a very complex situation, with more factors involved than people first give the industry credit for.
Atlantic City in the US is one area where you can see the first instance of this taking place. In the opening two months of 2025, its revenue for nine of its major casinos reached $413.7 million. This was a 0.7% decline from the year before. Revenue in January tumbled even further, with 3.8% recorded in losses year on year. Yet revenue from online gambling far surpassed this.
Even further afield in Europe, Dutch regulators are facing the same issues. In 2024, their year-on-year revenue remained the same at around $5 billion when converted from Euros. Yet revenue from physical casinos had fallen by 5.5% year on year, with physical slot machine revenue dropping to 5.4%. The overall total was only buoyed up by a growth in the online sector.
Canada's Continuing Faith in Physical Casinos
Canada actually continues to have great faith in the physical Casino, despite more provinces becoming favourable to online gaming. In 2023, the Great Canadian Casino Resort opened in Toronto to the tune of $1 billion. It had 328,000 square feet of gaming space, which contained 4,800 slot machines and 145 table games. Crucially, it also housed a huge entertainment venue, adopting the multipurpose approach seen in places like Las Vegas.
This is not an isolated occurrence. The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) recently announced the expansion of its Northern Lights Casino project. It will add 31,000 square feet to an existing property. What is very poignant is that little of this touches the gaming floor, instead adding more entrances, improving hospitality areas and office space.
Furthermore, at the start of 2024, the Bear Hills Casino & Travel Resort opened in Alberta. With 200 slot machines and 10 table games, it was not the huge affair seen in Toronto. However, it did combine with an amazing restaurant and grill. This shows the continued belief that casinos are viable entertainment and leisure spaces.
Further Factors Impacting Canada's Gaming Market
There are many other factors that could also contribute to the decline in physical casino usage in Canada. Over the last year, tariffs may have played a part in the decline of physical gambling revenue. Many operators use video terminals and slots made in the U.S. These include those built by trusted companies such as IGT, Bally and Konami. As a direct result of the tariffs, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Nova Scotia all began to restrict the import of US-made machines.
Alberta alone has 16% of Canada's slot machine and VLT market. With no new machines, players are left using the same slot games. This is in contrast to online play, where operators are releasing around 2 games per month. All of this must have had an indirect impact on the market.
Canada also needs to be wary of lessons from that most major of gambling cities when it comes to attracting visitors to casinos: Las Vegas. Over four summer months last year, visitor numbers fell by between 5.7% to 6.4% through its airport. In September alone, 13.5% fewer visitors came to the city, with domestic tourism numbers also down. For this, the reason given is not online casinos keeping people away, but prices.
Costs in Las Vegas are simply too much for people to afford. If you have visited recently, you may have noticed that room rates are down due to lower occupancy rates, but still hugely overpriced. If you book a room, you will then be subject to a resort fee of a minimum $45, plus added fees such as $50 for charging your device. Las Vegas has finally overplayed its hand and it is suffering the consequences. Canada must avoid this.
Many people also fail to consider that most everyday factors: Weather. When Atlantic City’s casino revenue declined last year, the multiple storms in February were blamed, saying that the same month a year before had been much more temperate. With Canada often having harsh and unforgiving winters, it would be useful to have a study on the correlation between increased weather conditions and the decline in physical casino revenue. Unfortunately, none such exists.
Dwindling Footfall as Societal Change
There are also indicators that Canada’s physical casino revenue was declining long before the huge iGaming boom. A particular case study can be found in Nova Scotia. Way back in 2021, it was reported that its Halifax Casino was in danger of closing down. Critics immediately pointed the finger of blame at online casinos. However, documents released to CBC News, given by the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation, showed that revenues had been declining at this physical location for 15 years.
The casino hit its biggest revenue in 2006-07, at $75 million. By 2014-15, it had fallen by around 30% to $54 million. This was far before the recent major iGaming boom and did not include the global pandemic, after which its revenue fell once again to around $9 million. It was also way before the Atlantic Lottery Corporation offered its own suite of products, which came in 2022.
What can be gleaned are similarities from other areas, such as the retail sector. In Canada, 6% of retailers only shop online, 6% shop online in-store and the other 88% like to mix them both. When compared to shoppers from other countries, Canadians come out on top for blending online and offline experiences. In the US, only 78% want to use both, with French and Indian consumers going as low as 76%. This suggests that Canadians are much more likely to utilise hybrid choices compared to other countries.
This continued approach could have a great economic impact. There are currently around 25,000 positions available in the iGaming sector, with 135,500 employees in the industry as a whole. Great Canadian Entertainment alone have 7000 workers across its physical casinos. Tax revenue from these online sources is also up, with a predicted $450 million gained every year.
The Future of Canadian Gambling
What makes Canada a unique proposition is that many provinces have a relaxed approach to offshore casinos. This allows people to gamble with operators who are not based in the country. Thus, the figures for gambling in Canada are hard to gauge correctly. There could be more people gambling online than we think, more being spent and crucially, more taxable revenue that may have been lost.
While people are quick to point the finger at online casinos taking the physical footfall, the answer is much more complex. The world is shifting to a hybrid approach. Even if online casinos did not exist, people would still go out less for entertainment purposes. The cost of living is up, and consumers are being more choosy.
Like Las Vegas, Canadian casinos seem to be pivoting to multi-purpose spaces, providing live music venues and comedy to shore up their tables. Yet if any real lesson can be learned from Vegas, it is that this is not an answer in itself. Prices must be reasonable, with taxes and surcharges kept to a minimum. Only then will a viable, affordable option exist and attract Canadian players to physical casinos, while sustaining the online market alongside it.
