Research examines how fantasy sports, social casinos and prediction markets fall under different Canadian legal and regulatory frameworks
Canada’s fastest-growing digital gaming formats are challenging a regulatory system largely designed around conventional casinos and sportsbooks, according to research published by CasinoCanada.com.
The analysis estimates that Ontario alone has more than two million fantasy sports players. It also points to rapid growth in social casino gaming and prediction markets, although the three formats receive significantly different treatment under Canadian law.
Classification depends on each product’s mechanics
Canada’s Criminal Code covers games of chance and games combining chance and skill when participants pay money or other valuable consideration for an opportunity to win a prize.
However, classifying newer digital products is rarely straightforward. Whether a game constitutes gambling can depend on the presence of chance, payment and a prize of monetary value, as well as the precise mechanics through which users participate.
Consequently, products without redeemable prizes or monetary consideration may fall outside conventional gambling regulation. That does not necessarily exempt them from consumer protection, securities or other applicable laws.
Ontario regulates paid fantasy sports
Ontario treats paid daily fantasy sports contests as sport and event betting. Operators offering them within the province must be registered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and operate through iGaming Ontario.
CasinoCanada estimates that more than two million people participate in fantasy sports in Ontario. Outside the province, the legal position remains less clearly defined.
The analysis refers to a 2015 Canadian Gaming Association legal opinion that concluded daily fantasy sports could not be classified as games of pure skill. That interpretation, however, has not been conclusively tested by a Canadian court.
Social casino market forecast to reach US$14.42 billion
Social casino games generally allow users to play casino-style products using virtual credits that cannot be redeemed for money or prizes of monetary value. Products following this model normally sit outside traditional gambling regulation, although their individual features remain important when determining their legal status.
Research and Markets values the global social casino sector at US$10.08 billion in 2026 and forecasts that it will reach US$14.42 billion by 2030.
These products may nevertheless reach many of the same consumers targeted by regulated gambling operators. CasinoCanada cites research indicating that social casino play can act as an introduction to gambling-style products, particularly among younger users.
Prediction contracts face securities scrutiny
Prediction markets occupy another distinct regulatory category. Rather than being automatically classified as gambling, event contracts may constitute securities or derivatives under Canadian provincial legislation.
The Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization have warned that platforms offering prediction contracts may be subject to securities and derivatives requirements, including registration obligations. Canadian regulators have also previously taken enforcement action against platforms offering event-based binary options without authorisation.
CasinoCanada argues that the fragmented treatment of these products creates a widening gap between conventional gambling regulation and the digital entertainment formats attracting younger consumers.
Research published in 2025 by Greo Evidence Insights and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction found that approximately one-third of Canadians aged 18 to 29 had gambled online during the previous year. Among young adults who had done so, 23.5% reported experiencing high levels of gambling-related harm.
Eugene Ravdin, Head of PR at CasinoCanada, said:
“Ontario and Alberta answer the question they were built to answer – how you license and tax a casino-style operator safely. That part works.
“The harder question is a fantasy contest, a free-to-play slots app or an event contract. None of it triggers provincial oversight, and all of it reaches the same young audience licensed operators reach through far tighter channels. The UK treats tradeable in-game items as a currency; Australia age-gates by classification. Canada has one lever: license it or leave it alone.”
