
The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC) has amped up pressure on the provincial government to modernize Quebec’s online gaming sector with a newspaper op-ed and a brief detailing the economic and safety benefits of an open, regulated market.
First, on Jan. 9, QOGC spokesperson Ariane Gauthier penned an op-ed in Journal de Montreal (JdM) detailing the coalition’s perspective.
In the piece, Gauthier criticized Loto-Québec for celebrating its declining financial performance as a win.
At the risk of breaking the party, $1.6 billion paid to the government in 2006 is equivalent to about $2.4 billion in today’s dollars. Loto-Québec’s net profit will be miles away from that this year, around $1.5 billion. Claiming to be approaching the “best results in nearly 20 years ” as the Crown corporation has done absolutely does not reflect the organization’s real performance.
Gauthier also cited Mainstreet Research’s 2023 survey that found 73% of Québécois use unregulated gaming sites while 67% favour an open and regulated market.
Then, on Jan. 15, the coalition followed Gauthier’s opinion piece with a brief submitted to Quebec’s Ministry of Finance as part of the ministry’s 2025-26 pre-budget consultations.
In the document, QOGC shared figures demonstrating that regulated online gambling could contribute $300 million annually to Québec’s coffers while better protecting online players.
Loto-Québec resistant to mandate change
Notably, QOGC represents several of the gaming industry’s household names, including DraftKings, Entain, Flutter, and Rush Street Interactive, among others.
According to its website, the coalition partners are committed to working with Québec’s lawmakers to develop a new provincial regulatory framework.
As might be expected, Loto-Québec is resistant to any change that would impact the operator’s gaming monopoly.
Last year, Jean-Francois Bergeron, Loto-Québec’s president and CEO, told a Canadian Gaming Summit audience his organization has a clearly defined mandate. That authority, he said, is not to bother with the hypotheticals of an Ontario-style open market but to run the provincial operator efficiently.
As crown corporation operators, we have a clearly defined mandate. It’s certainly not up to us to defend that model, but to operate it successfully within the current law and legislation. The Criminal Code is clear. It’s up to the provincial governments to conduct and manage gaming in Canada. There is no gray zone and the government of Quebec has decided to entrust Loto-Québec with that mandate. In Quebec, if it’s not Loto-Québec, it’s not legal.
QOGC says Québec’s gaming model needs an update
To counter Bergeron, QOGC has argued that responsible gaming experts have long recommended the establishment of an independent body to oversee Québec’s online gambling market. This change, QOGC said, would ensure Loto-Québec and private companies adhere to the “same strict rules” as in “most G7 countries” and Ontario.
As it stands, QOGC said Mainstreet’s findings indicate that most of Québec’s online players prefer unregulated sites outside government supervision.
In the release announcing the brief, Gauthier emphasized that Québec’s provincial monopoly is a holdover from a different time.
In the Internet world, Loto-Québec’s monopoly is outdated. A review of the supervision is necessary to provide Quebec with clear rules adapted to the global reality of online sports betting and virtual casinos. In addition, the government is struggling with a record budget deficit. Additional revenues of around $300 million per year from the implementation of a safer online gaming environment for players could certainly help fund public services.
The brief also noted that Ontario courts have validated the legality of the province’s modernized gaming model and highlighted the resulting benefits.
Private online gaming operators have been complying with the rules of the independent monitoring body, iGaming Ontario (iGO), for two years and remit approximately 20% of their gross gaming revenues to the provincial government.
Québec’s independent spirit offers a substantial hurdle
As yet, whether QOGC is gaining any political ground is unknown.
According to a poll market research firm Leger conducted on behalf of JdM last November, Premier François Legault’s majority-holding Coalition Avenue Quebec (CAQ) is trailing Parti Québécois (PQ) in the polls. However, the next Quebec election isn’t until October 2026, so much could change in the in-between.
In any case, the PQ has yet to speak publicly on the issue.
Gauthier told CDC Gaming Reports that although QOGC has not officially spoken with any of Québec’s political parties, it is in contact with all factions.
Premier Legault wants to boost Quebec’s financial numbers. We’re not working against the government. We want to work with the government. A major change like this is always difficult to make. The debate should be how we make changes to create a new system. It’s obvious that online gaming isn’t going away. Trying to enforce a monopoly … is doomed to fail. Responsible-gaming experts are asking for an independent regulator to better protect players… It’s clear we need to move on to another system that reflects the momentum for igaming. The question we want to address with elected officials and Quebec public-health experts is how to do it.
However, in an op-ed for our sister site, PlayCanada, Catena Media’s editorial news manager and former Quebecker Alex Weldon argued Quebec is unlikely to follow in Ontario’s footsteps for several reasons. Among those is that Quebec would balk at following Ontario’s lead.
For now, it’s too soon to tell how things will ultimately shake out.