Three Years In, Ontario’s iGaming Model Proves a Runaway Success

iGaming Ontario released its yearly numbers this week, showing staggering growth over the last three years.

Total wagers from April 2024 to March 2025 exceeded C$82.7 billion (approximately US$59.7 billion), while gross gaming revenue came in at C$3.2 billion (approximately US$2.31 billion). In a fitting correlation, wagers rose 31% over the previous year’s totals, while revenue climbed 32%.

Ontario, home to more than 16 million people and the most populated Canadian province, set out in 2021 to create a regulated iGaming market that would be open, competitive, and sustainable. Regulators envisioned a reasonable tax rate, sensible licensing rules with no cap on the number of operators, and robust, responsible gaming requirements built into the framework from the start.

Most critically, they hoped to thwart the rapidly growing offshore grey market and build a legitimate market that could stand on its own.

So far, what has come to be known as the Ontario Model has not only held up but also continues to show rapidly increasing year-over-year growth. Most importantly, they have almost 50 licensees operating over 80 online casinos, offering some of the most innovative marketing and player-friendly games in the world, thanks to the competitive structure built in.

That competition was always intended to be a pillar of the Ontario Model. Officials at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario understood that pulling players away from untaxed, unregulated sites would be a difficult task, especially after years of unchecked expansion. 

And that this competitive environment, along with strong licensing that kept out predatory operators and welcomed innovative ones, would lead to a modern, technologically driven marketplace where those with the best products and customer service would quickly rise to the top, with the goal of outshining anything offshore operators could offer.

Recent studies commissioned by AGCO show remarkable progress on that front. More than 83% of Ontario residents now report gambling almost exclusively with licensed operators. That's a significant achievement in just three short years. However, there is still work to do,  with more than 15% of gamblers still choosing grey market sites. 

While Ontario kept its online taxes on casinos deliberately low compared to global standards, they are on the high side in the US, with the province collecting 20%, amounting to more than C$600 million last year. While most of this went to general revenue for the province, about 1.7% of those funds are earmarked for the Ontario First Nations Limited Partnership, which supports the health, economic development, and education systems for First Nations Communities in Ontario. 

The province has also provided funding worth more than C$9 million to the Responsible Internet Gambling Fund over a three-year period beginning in April of last year. This money will help expand community outreach and support additional educational programs on responsible gaming themes. 

In a world where many grey market casinos still flourish, Ontario is proving that regulation and competition can not just coexist but even thrive and help keep untaxed and unregulated operators from strangling a burgeoning market.