Order in Council 210/2024

On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, by and with the advice and concurrence of the Executive Council of Ontario, orders that:

Whereas

Part VII of the Criminal Code creates a number of offences related to gaming and betting.

Section 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code provides that notwithstanding any of the provisions of Part VII relating to gaming and betting, “it is lawful for the government of a province,either alone or in conjunction with the government of another province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province, or in that and the other province, in accordance with any law enacted by the legislature of that province.”

iGaming Ontario has been established as a Crown agent to conduct and manage legal online gaming and sports betting as provided through prescribed lottery schemes in accordance with the Criminal Code and the Gaming Control Act, 1992, and the regulations made under those Acts. iGaming Ontario does this pursuant to and in accordance with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Act, 2019, the Gaming Control Act, 1992, and Ontario Regulations 722/21 and 78/12 (collectively, the “Gaming Control Legislation”).

Legal online gaming and sports betting benefits the public by providing a lawful alternative to the illicit gaming market; by providing measures to mitigate against the harms associated with gaming and betting (including money laundering, fraud, and addiction); by facilitating greater consumer choice; and by generating public revenue.

Players participating in legal online gaming and sports betting must be located in Ontario and are not entitled to participate in games or betting involving players located outside of Ontario. Some individuals in Ontario continue to access internet gaming and betting schemes which are not conducted and managed by iGaming Ontario and which involve players located outside of Ontario.

By permitting players participating in legal online gaming and sports betting to participate in games and betting involving players located outside of Canada, Ontario could channel players away from unlawful gaming and betting schemes operating without any oversight into a lawful alternative that is conducted and managed by the province. Ontario’s conduct and management of the scheme as it operates in this province would ensure that the public interest is secured through greater protections for players and the broader public, as well as the generation of revenue for the public purse.

While Ontario would like to permit players participating in legal online gaming and sports betting to participate in games and betting involving players outside of Canada, there is uncertainty about whether doing so would be consistent with the requirements of the Criminal Code as they have been interpreted to date.

It is in the public interest that the issue of whether an online lottery scheme conducted and managed by a province which permits its users to participate in games and sports betting involving players outside of Canada is lawful under the Criminal Code be settled authoritatively as soon as possible.

Therefore, there be referred to the Court of Appeal for Ontario for hearing and consideration pursuant to section 8 (1) of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43 the following question:

1. Would legal online gaming and sports betting remain lawful under the Criminal Code if its users were permitted to participate in games and betting involving individuals outside of Canada as described in the attached Schedule? If not, to what extent?

Schedule