Ontario Canada has considered introducing online gambling for quite a while now. It’s been so long, in fact, that most people believed it simply would not happen.
This year, however, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has made major strides in meshing online gambling with the physical casinos. The organization has been looking into how online betting will affect the current horse racing industry, for example, and how online casinos will be regulated.
The government is eager to introduce online gambling as soon as possible, as a large chunk of revenue—almost two billion dollars—comes from the regulation and licensing fees for physical casinos. Because online casino regulations are not yet as structured or strict as physical casinos, there is some concern that revenue could be lost in the short term.
The OLG believes that introducing online gambling will actually increase revenues, allowing more money to be poured into community projects like building hospitals and paving roads. Because online gambling is still in its infancy, Ontario plans to introduce a “Fairness Monitor” to the industry, which will be tasked with ensuring proper conduct from companies and gaming providers in this space.
New task forces are actively being convened in order to look into the sustainability of online gaming and to handle the complex process of launching online casinos.
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