At the 2024 Canadian Gaming Summit, Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, announced that Alberta aims to follow Ontario’s open free-market model, welcoming a large number of operators. He added that there may be certain alterations made but the overall pattern will remain the same.
Through the passing of Bill 16, Alberta’s legislature took the initiative to clear all hurdles in the way of introducing a multi-operator iGaming space. This will grant the government the authority to manage and oversee all gaming-related activities. Given the concerns raised by offshore operators regarding the body, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) will be excluded from the discussion. In his opinion, Play Alberta will now be facing competition from private players.
In the meantime, Nally is known to be holding discussions with the First Nation’s stakeholders, such as Treaty 6,7, and 8. In this exercise, he has also involved the conventional casino as well as the racing entertainment sector operator.
AGLC controls 45% of the iGaming space in Alberta, according to data collected from H2 Gambling Capital, a market data company. The remaining 55% is ascribed to unorganized and uncertified players.
Dan Keene, the VP of Gaming at AGLC, recognizes that Alberta has had a plethora of gaming providers for decades. The organization’s objective has consistently been to introduce regulated and secure alternatives and to secure a portion of the market. The Albertan market is mature, and participation is already occurring. He firmly believes they were missing out on a lot of revenue collection options which will now effectively come into force.
Alberta has adopted Ontario’s approach, as the province has generated $2.4 billion in revenue collection annually, which represents a 71% annual increase.
Furthermore, the iGaming industry’s standards are being elevated by the intense competition and the opening of 15,000 job opportunities. In the end, these were a few of the factors that contributed to the igniting of the flames within Albertans.
