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As of the morning of October 14, the Alberta iGaming Corporation has now approved 50 regulated online casino sites listed on its site, up from 36 just over a week before.
Those 50 sites represent 29 different operators.
Why is this significant? Alberta became the second province in Canada to launch a regulated iGaming market. That market opened July 13. A number of pre-approvals were issued before that date.
Because of the sheer volume of interest, there was a logjam of operators placing the final touches on their platforms all at the same time. And there were some operators who were nowhere close to being ready to launch on July 13. So, the province created a three-month grace period; all pre-approved platforms had until Oct. 13 to launch.
But Dale Nally, the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction – who is overseeing the iGaming market – has repeatedly stated that there would be no further extensions.
The list of 50 was confirmed by Alberta iGaming Corporation on Wednesday. Nally had said last week that the Oct. 13 number could surge to more than 60 platforms, but the final list fell short of that.
That list does not include Play Alberta, the government-operated iGaming platform that was the only one legal for use before the province opened up the market on July 13.
One of the more notable no-shows is LeoVegas: the Swedish giant that legally operates in Ontario. It had announced its intention to be part of Alberta’s marketplace, but in late June announced that it was pausing new pre-registrations from the province. As of Wednesday, LeoVegas’s site blocks Alberta users.
As well, River Cree Resort and Casino, the largest physical casino in the province, had been pre-approved to launch its branded iGaming site. That has not appeared on the AIGC lists. In the spring, River Cree CEO Vik Mahajan had said that the site would not be ready for July 13, but the plan was to launch later in the year.
“As of today, only iGaming sites approved to operate within the regulated market are allowed to be live and accessible to Albertans,” said AIGC spokesperson Amanda Ash.
“Sites that have not transitioned to Alberta’s regulated market — or that are still awaiting approvals to transition — are required to go dark until they fully launch.”
Nally said last week that Oct. 13 is not an absolute cutoff. Operators can always reapply, and new operators are welcome to make their cases to enter the Alberta marketplace. Nally was at the G2E conference in Las Vegas last week, spreading the word about the advantages of doing business in Alberta. He’s made it clear that reasonable, responsible operators are welcome to do business in the province.
