Features
The Legal Landscape of Gambling in Canada: What You Need to Know

Canada’s online gambling landscape is a complex and evolving field, shaped by federal and provincial regulations. The Canadian Criminal Code, provincial laws, and international influences create a unique legal environment for online gambling.
This article delves into the intricacies of these regulations, highlighting how provinces like Ontario and Alberta manage online gambling, the impact of iGaming, and the legal status of offshore operators.
It also addresses practical aspects for Canadian gamblers, such as financial transactions, tax implications, and safety measures. Understanding these legal nuances helps ensure a secure and compliant online gambling experience for Canadian players.
Canada’s legal framework for online gambling has seen significant evolution, with recent legislation specifically aimed at enhancing player protection and providing a more regulated market.
Now, provinces have the authority to license and oversee online casinos, ensuring these platforms operate with transparency and fairness. For instance, the regulations governing Ontario online casinos mandate strict adherence to these comprehensive laws, which guarantees a reliable, secure, and legally compliant gaming experience for players throughout the province.
The Canadian Criminal Code and Online Gambling
The Canadian Criminal Code significantly influences online gambling regulation in Canada. While it does not explicitly prohibit online gambling, it bans gambling at establishments not owned or licensed by a provincial government. Additionally, the Code prohibits Canadian companies from offering online gambling to Canadians. However, this restriction does not extend to overseas companies, creating a legal grey area for online gambling.
Canada’s approach to online gambling is complex and decentralized, with provinces holding the authority to regulate gambling within their territories. Unlike South Africa, where national laws uniformly govern online gambling, Canada allows each province to license and regulate its gambling industry.
The Criminal Code provides an overarching framework, while provinces manage specific regulations. Canadian players can legally access offshore online casinos licensed by jurisdictions like Malta, Gibraltar, or the UK, contrasting South Africa’s National Gambling Act of 2004, which prohibits such activities.
Modern Laws Affecting Online Gambling in Canada
The legality of offshore operators taking bets from Canada remains complex and ambiguous. While no specific laws prohibit Canadian players from using international sites, the Canadian Criminal Code allows certain forms of gambling conducted and managed by provinces or licensed charitable organizations.
Consequently, while Canadian players can access overseas online casinos without breaking Canadian laws, the legal status of offshore operators accepting bets from Canadians remains uncertain.
In Canada, each province has its regulations for online gambling. For example, Alberta permits legal online gambling through Play Alberta, a government-regulated site. In British Columbia, provincial authorities regulate gambling and commercial gaming, with a legal gambling age of 19. In Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, gambling regulations permit individuals aged 19 and above to gamble legally. In Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, gambling policies cater to residents with varying minimum gambling ages.
Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories also regulate gambling through their respective authorities, allowing residents to access internationally regulated sites without legal consequences.
iGaming and Online Casinos in Canada
Ontario’s iGaming market is a well-regulated industry overseen by iGaming Ontario (iGO), a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Operators must have their games and systems certified by an Independent Testing Laboratory (ITL) to ensure quality and fairness.
Additionally, operators must register with the AGCO and secure a Letter of Agreement with iGO. Advertising iGaming in Ontario is legal but must comply with AGCO’s strict standards.
The iGaming industry significantly impacts Canadian players, supporting over 12,000 full-time jobs and contributing over $900 million in labor income. Popular online casinos for Canadian players include JackpotCity Casino, PokerStars Casino, Leo Vegas Casino, 888casino, and Royal Vegas Casino. These platforms offer a wide range of games, payment options, and promotions, catering to Canadian players’ preferences.
For online casino operators in Ontario, participating in the iGaming market involves registering with the AGCO and obtaining a Letter of Agreement with iGO. Operators are subjected to registration fees, which vary based on the type and scope of gambling services offered. This process ensures that only reputable and compliant operators participate in the market, maintaining high standards of operation.
Practical Information for Canadian Gamblers
Canadian gamblers engage in various activities, from casinos to horse racing and lotteries. In Canada, gambling winnings are generally tax-free, but interest on winnings is taxable. Professional gamblers, however, are taxed on their winnings as business income, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between casual and professional gamblers when considering tax implications.
Canadian players can typically access international online casinos without legal repercussions. The legality of online gambling in Canada remains a grey area, with federal laws not explicitly prohibiting residents from participating in international gambling sites. As long as players are aware of potential tax implications if they generate income from their winnings, they can enjoy their favorite online gambling activities.
For online gambling in Canada, financial transactions should be secure and convenient. Common payment methods include credit/debit cards, e-wallets, and bank transfers. Players should choose payment methods that best suit their needs. Gambling winnings are not taxed in Canada, but income generated from those winnings, such as interest, is taxable. Players should be mindful of these potential tax implications.
Many online casinos cater to Canadian players by allowing transactions in Canadian dollars (CAD). This convenience eliminates currency conversion fees, making it easier for players to deposit and withdraw funds. While not all international casinos support CAD transactions, players should prioritize those that do for a smoother gambling experience.
Safety and Fairness in Online Gambling
Fund security is a top priority for online gambling operators and regulatory bodies. Online casinos must use advanced encryption software to protect players’ personal and financial data. Additionally, provincial regulatory bodies oversee operations to ensure strict adherence to standards, further bolstering security in the Canadian online gambling landscape.
The fairness of casino games in Canada is ensured through licensing, regulation, and independent audits. Online casinos use Random Number Generators (RNGs) to guarantee impartial outcomes.
Reputable regulatory bodies, such as the AGCO, oversee casino operations to uphold integrity. Players with concerns can submit complaints to relevant regulatory authorities, ensuring their rights are protected and the overall fairness of the industry is maintained.
Responsible gaming resources in Canada promote healthy gambling habits and address potential issues. Online gambling providers offer self-exclusion programs, deposit limits, and other features to help players maintain control over their activities.
Support networks, such as helplines and counseling services, are available for those in need. This comprehensive approach ensures a supportive and regulated environment for legal online gambling in Canada.
Canada‘s online gambling landscape continues to evolve, providing a regulated and secure environment for players. By understanding the legal nuances and regulations, Canadian gamblers can safely and legally enjoy their favorite online gambling activities.
Features
Haifa University launches $60 Million ‘Home Again’ Campaign to help rebuild war- devastated northern Israel

By MYRON LOVE In early July, Haifa University announced a new campaign to help rebuild the war-devastated communities of northern Israel. The “Home Again” campaign aims to raise $60 Million for regional recovery – and the Canadian Friends of Haifa University is set to do its part.
“We at CFHU hope to raise $1-million or more from our donors across Canada toward the campaign,” reports Ariel Karabelnicoff, executive director of Canadian Friends of Haifa University.
In an earlier interview that was published in this newspaper last year, the former Winnipegger – now in his third year with CFHU – noted that the University of Haifa is among the largest universities in Israel, but is also the youngest. Fully accredited in 1972, he said, the university has an enrollment of 18,000 students – with a student body that reflects the diversity of Israel’s population. About 40% of the students come from the Druze, Circassian and Arab communities and – among the Jewish students – there are many whose families are from Ethiopia.
The University of Haifa, Karabelnicoff added, also boasts the highest percentage among Israeli universities of students who are the first generation in their families to attend university.
The new initiative, he reports, aims to “restore and revitalize the north through science, innovation, and data-driven research rooted in community priorities and focused on real-world outcomes. “
While the campaign, Karabelnicoff points out, was originally conceived to address the cascading crises that first began on October 7, 2023, the urgency has become even greater due to direct missile strikes on Haifa and surrounding areas during the short war with Iran in April.
“The devastation brought mass displacement, overwhelmed public services, and deepened strain on communities already struggling to recover from months of conflict,” Karabelnicoff notes. “The campaign now represents not just regional recovery, but a cornerstone of Israel’s national resilience strategy for the post-conflict era. “
Karabelnicoff quotes University of Haifa President Professor Gur Alroey as stating that “in this moment of national crisis, when Israel’s northern communities have been tested like never before, University of Haifa is stepping forward to turn trauma into transformation. What was already a crucial mission of recovery after October 7 has become an existential imperative following the devastation of recent weeks. We are not just restoring what was lost, we are building the foundation for Israel’s long-term future—something stronger, more resilient, and more just.”
In the aftermath of October 7, Alroey reports, Hezbollah rockets devastated northern towns, triggering the largest internal displacement in Israel in decades. More than 68,000 people—families, farmers, and seniors—became refugees in their own country. Today, less than half have returned home. As Iranian long-range missiles threatened the north, communities faced not just a security crisis but a comprehensive breakdown in public health, education, employment, and social cohesion. In rural and peripheral areas, rehabilitation beds are scarce, mental health services are overwhelmed, and economic life has ground to a halt.
Karabelnicoff notes that the Home Again campaign is offering a coordinated, data-informed strategy, anchored in real-time research, local partnerships, and measurable programs across three core pillars.
The first is a multi-front recovery strategy – led by emotional and physical rehabilitation specialists affiliated with the university – for one of the region’s greatest invisible burdens – trauma.
“PTSD has surged by 33% among residents,” Karabelnicoff reports, “with children and parents bearing some of the deepest scars.”
Simultaneously, he continues, northern hospitals are ill-equipped to meet rising demands for complex rehabilitation care. The university is addressing both gaps.
The university is addressing this issue through mental health teams operating rapid-response networks – including the establishment of 24/7 hotlines and mobile therapeutic units. As well, the university’s Cheryl Spencer Nursing School is training more frontline responders to assess and manage trauma – and a proposed Community Rehabilitation and Research Center, spearheaded by Dr. Hilla Sarig Bahat, would merge academic research with hands-on clinical care—the first model of its kind in Israel.
The second focus is aimed at restoring economic stability and regional capacity in the north. With unemployment in the north spiking nearly 50%, Karabelnicoff points out, “the university is launching targeted workforce initiatives designed to meet immediate needs and build long-term regional capacity. These include specialized training programs for nurses, educators, trauma specialists, and environmental rehabilitation professionals. Additionally, discharged soldiers are being offered re-skilling opportunities in sustainable marine industries tied to Israel’s northern coastline, connecting economic recovery to national resilience.”
The final prong in the University of Haifa’s new initiative is focused on investing in community futures through real-time legal aid clinics, AI-assisted social service platforms, and coexistence-building programs that will bring Jewish and Arab residents together in the workplace.
“The university is working to restore both public trust and strategic cohesion,” Karabelnicoff says. “Researchers are partnering with kibbutzim, regional councils, and national ministries to revitalize schools, renew cultural life, and strengthen the social fabric at a time when national solidarity is dangerously frayed.”
For readers interested in contacting Ariel about supporting this new Canadian Friends of Haifa University initiative, his email address is ariel.karabelnicoff@haifa-univ.ca.
Features
Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Quest And the Ukraine War

By HENRY SREBRNIK In a recent letter nominating U.S. President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel heaped praise on the diplomatic deals known as the Abraham Accords, establishing diplomatic relations between his country and three Arab states.
Netanyahu called the 2020 accords, brokered by Trump, “breakthroughs” that had “reshaped the Middle East,” making a “historic advance toward peace, security and regional stability.” Trump brokered the treaties between, initially, Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, signed at the White House that September 15.
As I wrote at the time, Trump deserved the prize, but his detractors saw to it that it was instead awarded to the World Food Program, “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”
A worthy organization, of course, but it could have been granted the prize in any year since its foundation in 1961. Trump deserved the prize, but didn’t get it, due to animosity from the international liberal elites.
By 2021 Trump was out of office, but he would still have been eligible. Instead. the prize went jointly to Maria Ressa, a Filipino-American journalist and investigative reporter for CNN and a professor at Columbia University, and Dmitry Andreyevich Muratov, founder of a pro-democracy Russian newspaper, for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.” Again, more of a “human rights” award than a diplomatic effort to end armed conflict.
Trump has long sought a Nobel Prize and has publicly questioned the decision to award the honour in 2009 to former president Barack Obama, who had barely entered the White House at the time. This time around, despite lingering bias, I think Trump will receive it. He can’t be overlooked — because he is really bringing at least a modicum of peace between longtime foes around the world.
The August 8 agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan notched another victory for him. The photograph of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shaking hands, with a smiling Trump holding both their arms, should alone do it. And it comes after a series of such deals. He spent much of his appearance promoting his administration’s role in overseas peace processes. His last such success came at the end of July, when he intervened to bring Cambodia and Thailand to the negotiating table after a border dispute.
Trump claimed involvement in a May ceasefire between India and Pakistan, two nuclear powers, though India denied, for domestic reasons, that the U.S. was a major actor. In June, he celebrated a peace agreement brokered by the U.S. between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, doing so with a signing in the Oval Office.
“Today’s signing follows our success with India and Pakistan. They were going at it. They were going at it big,” Trump reminded people. “Also the Congo and Rwanda. Now that was one, which was going on for 31 years, and we have it all done, and people are very happy.”
Several world leaders have said they were nominating Trump for the prize, including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. Among others, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have expressed their support. Pashinyan and Aliyev said that they believe Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and that they will advocate on his behalf to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Aliyev remarked that what Trump did in six months was a “miracle.”
Now comes the hardest part: the horrific Russia-Ukraine war. It has become Trump’s obsession to end it and enter the history books as a peacemaker. The symbolism of Trump meeting Vladimir Putin on the tarmac in Anchorage, Alaska August 15 was a photograph that undoubtedly made it to the front pages of every newspaper in the world. Prior to the meeting, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate who lost the presidential election to Trump in 2016, said she would nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize if he managed to pull off this extremely challenging feat!
Of course, the Alaska summit was actually just a first step. The ball is now in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s court. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Aug. 20 that Russia would agree to Western security guarantees for Ukraine only if Russia and China have a veto.
Russia’s list of demands includes assurance that Ukraine will not join NATO. Conversely, Moscow will have to accept an eventual Ukrainian accession to the European Union. Remember: unlike the U.S. and Europe, neither Russia nor Ukraine can afford to lose. Both — yes, both — see themselves up against the wall.
A redrawing of national borders seems inevitable. Much of Donetsk, Luhansk, and of course all of Crimea, with their Russophone populations, will likely remain Russian. On the other hand, Ukraine will become a far more homogenous nation state, perhaps a step towards its greater democratization. Otherwise, the war will continue.
And I haven’t even mentioned Gaza.
As for Trump’s Nobel? The road ahead is rough, but it will still be a sure thing.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Features
How beginners can profit from crypto

There are some people who have made money through investing in cryptocurrency. However, how can crypto help you make a profit if you are a beginner who doesn’t have a lot of technical expertise? Here is a list of some of the ways you can make money with crypto without having a lot of experience in the subject.
Get in early
One way you can, potentially, earn money from crypto without needing any deep technical knowledge is by finding opportunities to get in on the ground floor. If you study any upcoming crypto launches by, for instance, looking at the list of new crypto presales from Best Wallet, you might find a coin or token which you could make a profit from. Very often, a cryptocurrency’s presale price is lower than what it trades at when it first appears on the open market. So, if you are careful, do your own research, and have luck on your side, you could make a profit from a cryptocurrency presale.
Earn interest
If you want to make a profit in a slow but sure manner, then earning interest on a crypto savings account might just be for you. Much like a traditional, fiat, savings account, your money is lent out to borrowers or, in some cases, put into liquidity pools, and you earn interest, which can be as much as 10 per cent. Most major exchanges will let you do this, and they are often pretty user-friendly, too, so it won’t require a great deal of crypto expertise. If you do put your money into a savings account, make sure you research the platform and start with a small amount, the sort of amount of crypto you could afford to lose. It also helps if you diversify somewhat and use different platforms to avoid the risk of losses.
Earn as you learn
While the debate between centralized and decentralized exchanges isn’t going to go away at any point soon, something that can work in favor of centralized exchanges is how they can give you free crypto in the form of learn-to-earn programs. These involve surveys and quizzes about particular cryptocurrencies, which reward players with some of the subject cryptos once they have completed them. Although the rewards are not exactly massive – usually a few dollars’ worth of the said crypto – they are real. What is, perhaps, even more useful is that the quizzes are educational, so you won’t just gain crypto from doing them, you will also learn more about the whole cryptosphere.
Keep loyal
If you’ve been shopping at any point this century, the chances are that you will be familiar with the concept of loyalty cards. These give you rewards for doing your shopping, or eating and drinking, at a specific chain or store. And what’s true of traditional retail is becoming ever more commonplace with cryptocurrency. Whether it’s with crypto debit cards, which give users rewards in the form of crypto, shopping platforms such as StormX or Lolli offering points, or travel sites like Travala giving customers crypto cashback, there are plenty of ways in which you can get crypto just by getting things you would normally get. And, better yet, they usually just need you to sign up and link your card to your account, so there’s no mining or staking or anything like that. As ever, though, make sure that you read the small print and check that you comply with any tax requirements for any coins or tokens earned via a crypto loyalty program.
Hold steady
Crypto investors who make money know when to get into a market and come out of it. However, one thing that can work in your favor is the simple act of buying and holding crypto. Now, this isn’t foolproof. Firstly, because nothing is foolproof and, secondly, because prices can go down as well as up. That said, there is a theory that, ultimately, this is the best way to make money with crypto, because it can involve a long-term strategy. You will, however, need to make sure that you do your own research, remember that prices can go down as well as up, and never invest more than you can afford to lose. It also helps to be patient, because you might not see a profit you want to take for quite some time. So just buying and holding can help you turn a crypto profit without having to study the technical intricacies of cryptocurrency.