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Online gambling in Alberta generated roughly $56 million in non-adjusted gross revenue since the launch of legal gaming sites in July, according to the Crown corporation in charge.
The Alberta iGaming Corporation (AIGC) report reflects market data from July 13, when the market was opened, to Sept. 30. During this time the number of player accounts rose to roughly 389,000 from almost 270,000, and revenue grew to $56.6 million from $22.2 million.
According to the report, this amounts to an average revenue per active player account of $146.
“We’re showing a strong adoption over to the regulated market,” said Lim. “With operators making that decision to change over to the regulated market, we’re showing that Albertans do want to play on a regulated market,” said Marvin Lim, vice-president of operations at AIGC.
Alberta is set to become the second province to introduce a fully-regulated market for private online gambling companies. CBC’s Tristan Mottershead has more.
The AIGC report shows that the majority of revenue, roughly 75 per cent, came from online casinos, followed by sports and event betting at roughly 20 per cent, and live casino games at five per cent — something Lim says is expected.
“In most jurisdictions, casino gaming is the heavier amount of play,” said Lim.
However, as major sports leagues like the NHL, NFL and NBA start their seasons there could be a slight shift toward sports betting, says Lim.
Concerns about safety and advertisements
Lim says AIGC owes a lot to Ontario, which opened up its online gambling market in 2022 and advised Alberta on its frameworks.
“We really wanted to position ourselves from learning what occurred in Ontario as well as addressing matters that are happening in this industry right now,” said Lim.
One such lesson, he says, was “self-exclusion at the start of launch by operators to ensure that players have that accessibility to control their play.”
The self-exclusion program means players can sign up to restrict themselves from casinos, racing entertainment centres and regulated online gambling platforms for six months or up to three years.
A similar program in Ontario was only launched this year.
“That was very important for us to be something that we had at the start here in Alberta,” said Lim.
He added that there was a heavy focus on the onboarding process for operators, ensuring they “go through their checks to make sure that they’re partners that we want to see come into Alberta,” said Lim. “That’s something that we learnt from existing operators in Ontario.”
The report comes as new data from Ontario shows that problem gambling and gambling-related suicides have increased since the launch of online gambling. CBC News reported on the findings as part of a series examining the public health impacts of online gambling.
According to data from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, the estimated number of problem gamblers in Ontario jumped to nearly 130,000 compared to 43,000 in 2018. The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario also reported that from 2016 to 2021, the province averaged five gambling-related suicides per year, and that since 2022, when online gambling was legalized, that number has tripled.
Politicians in Ottawa have also recently moved to halt the proliferation of gambling ads during sporting events, on social media and online video games.
According to reporting by CBC News, across seven televised playoff hockey games in 2026 viewers were exposed to 3,000 gambling messages, 95 per cent of which made no mention of harm reduction or age restrictions.
Focus on education, supports and giving back
Lim says AIGC’s focus is on education about responsible gaming and the supports that are available.
“That’s something that we are developing and planning around what we can do to further educate Albertans and make Albertans aware of different support services as well as protections that our iGaming operators provide in this space,” said Lim.
In a press release announcing the report, AIGC CEO Dan Keene said that regulation matters.
“This is a market where approved iGaming Operators are held to high standards of accountability, and where revenue stays in the province to fund programs and services Albertans rely upon,” said Keene.
Federal MPs are moving forward with a bill to restrict sports betting ads in Canada. It comes as new data shows that the number of problem gamblers is on the rise in Ontario.
Aside from sharing profits with the province, the gambling market in Alberta directs two per cent of gross gaming revenue to support First Nations and one per cent to social responsibility programs.
Twenty-four operators can currently operate one or more registered iGaming sites in Alberta. Lim expects this to grow and says more operators are currently going through the process to operate in Alberta, including several “known brands.”
