Manitoba has one legal online gambling site, but the CBC found it easy to place bets with some popular online brands that the provincial Liquor & Lotteries agency says are operating illegally.
“That’s very disheartening,” says Teddy Wojtowicz, who lives in Brandon, Man., and is in recovery from a gambling addiction.
“For a person who has struggled with [gambling] addiction in the past, it’s tough to hear that.”
People in Manitoba are only supposed to be able to place bets with the province’s only legal online gambling platform, PlayNow.
However, through a test, the CBC found some online gambling brands that have licensed and regulated platforms in Ontario are accessible to people in Manitoba, which is illegal, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries says.
PlayNow is “faced with strong competition from many illegal operators” trying to attract bettors in Manitoba to their platforms, said Danielle Rice, vice-president of marketing and communications for Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.
When single-event sports betting was legalized in 2021, the federal government left it to the provinces to manage online gambling and lotteries in their respective jurisdictions.
The province of Ontario opened its online gambling market to private operators, and there are now 48 active, licensed and regulated operators competing with Ontario Lottery and Gaming, a Crown corporation.
All other provinces opted to manage online gambling through provincial corporations, like Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.
The CBC tested how easy it was to place bets with some online gaming brands that are licensed in Ontario but not Manitoba.
Betting test
CBC reporters registered an account, deposited the minimum funds and placed a minimum bet on three of five popular online sports betting platforms tested.
Successful bets were placed with Sports Interaction, Tonybet and Tooniebet. (The CBC lost all three bets.)
Sports Interaction, owned by Entain PLC, registered in the Isle of Man, said they “have no comment on this issue at this time.”
Their ads, which feature on CBC’s airing of Hockey Night in Canada, are broadcast nationally by Sportsnet, “so ads for companies that are licensed to operate in certain jurisdictions will be seen across Canada,” said a Sportsnet spokesperson.
All betting ads include a disclaimer specifying the jurisdictions the companies are licensed to operate in, Sportsnet said.
As for Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts on CBC on Saturday nights, a spokesperson for the network said it does not produce the show or sell ads, it just broadcasts the feed from Sportsnet.
“Sportsnet holds the national NHL rights and as such controls the advertising,” said Chuck Thompson, head of public affairs at CBC.
Tonybet said they are a “fully licensed and regulated platform” in Estonia.
A Tonybet advertisement was featured during a joint CBC and Onesoccer broadcast of the 2024 Canadian Premier League final.
Thompson said Tonybet is registered with iGaming Ontario and their commercial “adhered to industry advertising codes and CBC ad standards.” Since the signal for CBC originates from Ontario, “the ad could run nationally with the appropriate disclosure ‘Ontario only’ which was the case here.”
Tooniebet — the official betting partner of the CFL that had virtual advertisements displayed on the field during last year’s Grey Cup broadcast in Manitoba — is incorporated under Globalix Holding Ltd. (international platform) and Canadix Ltd. (Ontario platform), both registered in Malta.
The description on Tooniebet’s international app says it is “designed for Canadian players,” even though the company is only authorized to operate in one province. Tooniebet is also the official betting partner of the Ottawa Senators.
Soft2Bet, the parent company of Tooniebet, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. Bell Media, the owner of TSN, which has the broadcast rights for the Grey Cup, also did not respond a request for comment.
A CFL spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the CBC, “The Grey Cup is nationally televised with millions of Ontario CFL fans tuning in. The iGaming Ontario logo is embedded within the ToonieBet logo to reinforce they are licensed in Ontario.”
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries was notified about the CBC test, and responded by referring to a previous response, wherein they reaffirmed that they have “the sole legal authority to provide online gambling to Manitobans.”
Regulation in Canada
Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, a betting and lottery trade association, says the growth of digital gaming has changed the way people bet in Canada, and legislation has yet to catch up. (Sports Interaction, Tonybet and Tooniebet are not members of the Canadian Gaming Association.)
Manitoba’s Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act came into effect in 2014, well before single-event sports betting was legalized. It doesn’t mention online sports betting.
“The monopoly model that was created, where provincial governments had oversight of what happened in their jurisdiction, has started to erode since the arrival of the internet,” Burns said.
The federal Criminal Code says only provinces can conduct and manage sports betting in their respective jurisdictions.
Burns acknowledged betting platforms registered with iGaming Ontario are not authorized to operate in provinces outside of Ontario.
However, many of the same brands may still be accessible to people outside of Ontario through their international platforms, which are most often registered or licensed in foreign jurisdictions, he said.
Burns said those platforms aren’t prohibited, because the Criminal Code of Canada does not apply extraterritorially — except under specific exemptions — and whether the activity of offshore gambling companies constitutes such an exemption hasn’t been fully tested yet.
“So because you’re not located in Canada, the Criminal Code doesn’t apply,” he said.
This is part of the reason he’s advocating for more provinces to adopt regulated sports betting frameworks like in Ontario, Burns said.
“When you create boundaries, by and large the industry — the members I have — respect those boundaries.”
Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries “categorically disagrees” with the notion that because many of these sports betting companies are licensed and operating from abroad, the Canadian Criminal Code doesn’t apply. The Canadian Lottery Coalition, an advocacy group made up of provincial gaming corporations in various provinces, agrees with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.
The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba, the provincial gaming regulator, affirmed that Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries has the sole authority to conduct and manage commercial gaming in Manitoba — and that any other entity doing so in the province is in violation of the Criminal Code of Canada.
Manitoba ban on Bodog
This past spring, a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench judge granted an injunction prohibiting Bodog, a sports gambling site, from operating and advertising in the province.
Bodog, operated by a company licensed in Antigua and Barbuda, was available to Canadians through its international platform.
The judge agreed with Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries that Bodog was in violation of the Criminal Code, and also the Competition Act for falsely advertising themselves as “lawful, legitimate, trusted and safe for the purpose of attracting players to these platforms.”
Bodog did not contest the ruling and voluntarily withdrew its operations in Manitoba.
Liquor & Lotteries said that the decision by Justice Jeffrey Harris of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench “unequivocally confirmed” the activities of Bodog, which was licensed in a foreign jurisdiction, were prohibited by the Criminal Code.
“To suggest otherwise is not only fiction and completely the opposite of Justice Harris’ decision, but an irresponsible statement that puts the public at risk,” said James Anastasio, executive vice-president, gaming and entertainment, for Liquor & Lotteries.
Lawyer Donald Bourgeois, of Fogler, Rubinoff LLP, specializes in gaming law and was involved in the design of the regulatory structure for iGaming in Ontario.
He said Burns is neither entirely right nor wrong about whether offshore sports betting companies are in violation of the Criminal Code, as whether there is a “substantial connection” to Canada, in which case the Criminal Code may apply extraterritorially, has yet to be fully tested in court.
But the real challenge is in the enforcement, Bourgeois said.
“If I’m sitting in Curaçao or in Malta, who are you going to charge?” he said.
“Whether it is illegal or not … in Canada, just because people do illegal things, it doesn’t mean it becomes legal because there’s no law enforcement.”
Wojtowicz says he has the coping skills to keep from gambling, but it’s discouraging that some online gaming brands thought to be only operating in Ontario are “just one click away” for those outside Ontario.
“I always thought I had that reassurance that the sites they say are only operating in Ontario are only operating in Ontario.”
Manitoba only has one legal sports betting platform, but a CBC investigation found that placing bets with some popular sports betting brands was easy to do.
