

PROLINE’s retail product was also quickly revamped to accommodate the new legislation. 27, 2021, when the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) debuted its new PROLINE+ digital sportsbook. Ontario was among the first provinces to offer single-event sports betting on Aug. It was clear that the perception of sports betting was changing.
Political moneyline professional#
The bill also had the support of many professional sports leagues, such as the Canadian Football League, NFL, and NBA.Īt this time, sports betting was also becoming more mainstream and socially acceptable across North America, with many jurisdictions in the United States regulating their respective markets. The bill was widely supported by all four of Canada’s major political parties and passed its second reading on Feb. Conservative Senator David Wells later sponsored the bill in the Senate, ultimately leading to the decriminalization of single-game wagering, effective Aug. 25, 2020, Conservative Member of Parliament Kevin Waugh introduced Bill C-218, intended to legalize single-game wagering in Canada and give the provinces the authority to conduct and manage the regulation of the industry. Online sports wagering continued to gain momentum in Canada in the coming years, with estimates that roughly $14 billion (CAD) was being gambled illegally each year. However, the bill was voted down in the Senate in 2015, and a second attempt was also squashed in 2016. Legislators drafted a number of bills to legalize single-event sports betting and attempt to begin taxing the revenue domestically, which eventually led to Bill C-290 getting passed in the House of Commons in 2012. With the rise in popularity of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, several independent gray market operators from around the world, in places like Costa Rica, Gibraltar, and Isle of Man, began taking bets from Canadian customers, who were exposed to a wide array of markets, higher bet limits, and bonuses for the first time. In 1992, provincial governments debuted the parlay betting product PROLINE, and other similar sports lottery products, at retail locations to offer an alternative to illegal bookmaking in the country. At this time, moneyline wagering was the only option available and each parlay required at least three legs. This amendment also gave provincial lotteries the opportunity to offer parlay markets for popular North American sports events, like hockey, basketball, baseball, and football.

Political moneyline code#
In 1985, another amendment to the Criminal Code gave provinces the exclusive authority to conduct and manage lotteries and lottery schemes, including games conducted via a computer, video device, or slot machine. This development later led to the passing of Bill C-150, which gave the provincial and federal governments the opportunity to use lotteries to fund specific activities, such as the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.

In 1969, the Criminal Code was tweaked by the federal government to allow small-stakes gambling on behalf of charities. Gambling activities in Canada went unregulated until 1892, when the federal government developed and passed the Criminal Code of Canada, which banned all gambling activities except for horse wagering and games at small midways, or carnivals, across the country. Let’s take a brief look back at Canada’s sports betting journey. 27, 2021, allowing Canadians to bet on individual games, or outcomes, in a regulated environment.Ĭanada has a long, complicated history with sports wagering, but the passing of Bill C-218 was without a doubt a gamechanger for bettors across the country. Bill C-218, known as the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, was enacted on Aug. On Saturday, It’ll be the one-year anniversary of the decriminalization of single-game sports wagering in Canada. Whew, what a year it’s been for Canada‘s sports betting industry.
