Canadians love gambling. This is one of the best places for all sorts of gambling due to the fact that this is legalized and regulated, as well as the many options given to players. Gamblers in Canada have great freedom to play any game they want. However, things weren’t as simple or great before.
Gambling in Canada Today
Canada is one of the first countries to embrace some forms of gambling, but things weren’t as simple back then. In the 19th century, the Criminal Code of this country restricted any form of gambling. It was completely illegal until the middle of the 20th century (more precisely, until 1985).
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Now that this is allowed, gambling is one of the favorite pastimes of Canadians. Not only can they play at the many land-based casinos, but they can do this from the comfort of their home on licensed and safe websites.
Gambling at Online Casinos in Canada
Over the last decades, online casinos have expanded tremendously on this market. This sector is seriously thriving and the number of sites, as well as games grows every day. The pandemic has strengthened this trend even further. At a time when people were quarantined in their homes, a bit of gambling online was their relief and salvation – not to mention a way to get some extra cash.
If you choose to gamble in Canada, here is what you can expect to find at the best paying casino online today:
- A wide selection of games. Starting with slots as the most numerous gambling categories to card and table games to live dealer tables – you’ll be spoilt with choices if you gamble online.
- Unique promotional offers. This is something you can’t find at land-based casinos. Bonuses are frequent at Canadian casinos, and they can go up to thousands of dollars in bonus cash to hundreds of free spins and cashback promotions.
- Variety of payment options. Nowadays, gamblers in Canada can choose almost every available method for making online payments to do their deposits and withdrawals with. There are more traditional options like wire transfers and card payments, but also e-wallets, prepaid cards, and even cryptocurrency!
- Excellent mobile gambling. Most of the players these days prefer to use their phones to gamble. They can do it from any location with Wi-Fi access. Top-rated sites have their games and features optimized for all kinds of devices.
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The History of Gambling in Canada
Despite it not being legal per se, gambling in some forms was present in Canada for a very long time. Even the indigenous people did some sorts of gambling before settlers banned that kind of activity. A few centuries after this, people started playing lottery and other games for charity. In the 70s, the lottery was an actual, legal option that was played for real money.
The 1990s were very fertile for the gambling industry. People in the Mohawk Territory were motivated by Microgaming’s success with their first online casino in Canada and created the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. Now Canada has a regulatory body for gambling, and every gambling venue or poker room had to go through their rigorous testing to be approved to offer its services.
As the popularity grew, so did the number of online casinos. The numbers grew tremendously between 2000 and 2020, and they are still growing. Nowadays, around 75% of the Canadian population participates in some sort of gambling.
Right now, there are over 50 operators that can legally offer gambling activities online, not to mention 250 online casinos that operate on the worldwide web. The Commission is stricter than ever, too. Take for instance, the notorious case of an online poker company that was caught using cheating software. They paid over $22 million in a fine and the bettors who were victims of the fraud were all refunded.
Final Thoughts
The gambling realm of Canada is richer and more popular than it has ever been. This is one of the countries where gambling is a passion of many and therefore, there are tons of opportunities and perks for people who delve in this activity. Today, not only can you gamble on Canadian websites and in land-based casinos, but you can also play in offshore companies. There’s no rule against you making deposits and gambling, but you should still make sure that you are playing on a safe site since this isn’t under your country’s jurisdiction.
For quite some time, Canadian players are allowed to visit any licensed and regulated site, even though this is a solution far from perfect. Why? Well, the country laws have a lot of room for improvements especially when dealing with domestic operators who would like to open an online casino in Canada. Practically, they are now forced to move the business outside the country borders. On the other hand, for a gamer, this has no effect at all.
