Ontario Regulated Gaming Share Reaches 91.1% in 2026

Ontario’s regulated igaming market now captures more than 91% of online gamblers in the province, according to a new Ipsos study commissioned by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and iGaming Ontario. The figure is up 7.4 percentage points from last year, while the share of players using only offshore sites dropped from 16.3% to 8.9%.

For licensed operators in Ontario, the latest figures show more players are using regulated sites instead of offshore brands. That gives licensed operators access to a larger customer base inside the legal market. Ontario currently has 44 licensed operators and 76 approved gaming sites competing for players as offshore market share continues to fall.

The results come one week after Ontario launched BetGuard, a centralized self-exclusion system covering all regulated operators in the province. The tool removes one of the biggest gaps in multi-operator markets by allowing players to self-exclude across every licensed site through a single request.

Ontario launched its competitive igaming market in April 2022, when the province estimated that roughly 70% of online gambling activity happened on unregulated websites. Four years later, regulators are using the latest channelization figures to support the argument that open regulated markets can reduce offshore gambling without forcing players out of the system.

Regulators across North America continue using Ontario as a reference point for online gambling regulation. Alberta is preparing to open its own competitive igaming market, and other provinces are reviewing how Ontario reduced offshore gambling activity after launching regulated competition in 2022. The latest figures give regulators more evidence that enforcement measures and tools such as BetGuard can help move players toward licensed operators.

TGJ Take

Ontario’s latest figures show that regulated operators are continuing to take market share from offshore brands. For licensed operators, that means access to a larger player base inside the legal market and less competition from unregulated sites. The next step for AGCO will be reducing the remaining 8.9% of offshore-only gambling through enforcement and tools such as BetGuard. Regulators in Alberta and other provinces will be watching closely as they prepare their own regulated igaming markets.