As the subject of both online and land based gambling remains a hot topic on the lips of many Canadians, a recent survey carried out by the University of Montreal and Concordia has indicated that more Canadians are participating in forms of land based and online casino gambling than ever before. The survey itself was carried out with nearly 12,000 people and queried their use of any form of gambling, including lotteries, slots, video lotto and poker. In something of a surprising twist, the number of participants of legal gambling age that do enjoy some form of such entertainment has risen to over 70%.
Indeed, with no strict controls over whether citizens can or cannot gamble online in the country, the data has been used in some quarters to analyse the validity of the opening of a new casino in Toronto as reported here at Online Casino Canada. One observer but the facts to the test regarding the new land based operation by questioning why tax payers money running into hundreds of millions of dollars should be put towards building the new casino when a fully featured local operator could be created for a fraction of the cost, not to mention the years of construction of the new site that could easily be reduced to a matter of months.
The opposing view, however, does not focus solely on Canadian citizens. With the prospect of the re-legalisation of online gambling in the US, and the increased patronage at local US casinos, their Canadian counterparts are seeing the negative effects. Revenues at Canadian casinos near the border with the US have seen falling revenues based on these very issues, and even Canada’s Finance Minister has contributed to the discussion in the wake of falling tax revenues from such operators.
From a purely online perspective, officials from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation estimate that somewhere in the region of half a billion dollars is leaving Canada on an annual basis by being spent at offshore online casinos, and the new casino in Toronto is being somewhat justified as a means to claw back some of this lost income. However, contrary to such assertions is the fact that many observers feel that a land based casino would do little to return much of that lost revenue to government coffers. Many Canadians already have an online casino of choice and setting up a local operation, either online or at a land based site, would not necessarily draw the attention for players. Indeed, a quick glance at our list of recommended online casinos for Canadian players indicates that very few are physically based in Canada and pay tax in the country. Indeed, even Maple Casino, perhaps the most authentically Canadian of all online casinos, is regulated and licenced in Malta.
Nevertheless, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporations aims are clear, and they are paving the way for many of the 70% of gambling Canadians to play locally, with new legislation aimed at driving the adoption of all forms of online and mobile casino gaming in the country.
