{"id":390712,"date":"2026-04-09T23:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/390712\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T23:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T23:45:08","slug":"alberta-to-launch-regulated-online-gambling-market-critics-say-legislation-isnt-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/390712\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta to launch regulated online gambling market, critics say legislation isn\u2019t enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albertans will have their choice of online gambling websites come July 13, when the province expects to launch its private iGaming market.<\/p>\n

This comes after Bill 48 \u2014 or the iGaming Alberta Act<\/a> \u2014 was passed last year. The bill aims to provide regulatory oversight to online gambling sites through a new Crown authority called the Alberta iGaming Corporation.<\/p>\n

An estimated 65 per cent of online gambling in Alberta happens on black market sites, said Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Dale Nally. The small remainder is conducted through Alberta\u2019s only regulated iGaming provider, the AGLC\u2019s Play Alberta website, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can stick our heads in the sand and pretend online gambling is not here,\u201d Nally said Thursday on Edmonton AM<\/a>. \u201cOur approach is a more practical one. We are stepping in and putting player safety and responsibility first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the province\u2019s push to improve safety, Kshef Kamran, a University of Alberta student, told Edmonton AM on Wednesday<\/a> that the bill doesn\u2019t provide enough protection against online gambling at a time when it should be considered a public health concern.<\/p>\n

“Gambling isn’t just a game anymore. It isn\u2019t just entertainment,\u201d said Kamran, a researcher with Student Advocates for Public Health, a group of graduate student researchers lobbying for various public health causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re seeing so much harm among young people, be it through suicide or depression and anxiety, financial instability and loss of savings, just to name a few.”<\/p>\n

LISTEN | Minister Dale Nally responds to student concerns:<\/p>\n

Student Advocates for Public Health is also pushing for a ban on all advertising on iGaming sites to \u201chelp protect vulnerable populations,\u201d and to lower the maximum betting limit from $20,000.<\/p>\n

The bill, which aims to crack down on what Nally calls \u201crepugnant\u201d black market iGaming sites, establishes a betting limit of $20,000 in addition to advertising rules, which will limit certain public figures from appearing in gambling promotions.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Unregulated iGaming sites] don’t put player safety first,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know they’re marketing toward young people, and so what we’re doing is we’re taking action now to put forward a safer option for Albertans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Service<\/p>\n

Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally says he looked to Ontario’s regulatory framework around online gambling when developing Alberta’s iGaming legislation. (Scott Neufeld\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Learning from Ontario\u2019s bill<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s Bill 48 is inspired by similar legislation from Ontario. It was the first province to adopt a regulated sports betting program in 2022, allowing multiple operators to provide gambling services.<\/p>\n

After iGaming was regulated in Ontario, there was a rise in calls to help lines<\/a> for problem gambling. Nally said he is concerned this could also happen in Alberta, but noted online gambling isn\u2019t new.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe online … gambling problems didn’t just crop up on Day 1 of the legal regulated market because the black market existed in online gambling,\u201d he said. \u201cThese problems always existed, but there wasn’t awareness. People didn’t know how to reach out for help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta\u2019s legislation differs from Ontario\u2019s as it includes consumer protections like self-exclusion tools, said Nally. He also said the provincial government will dedicate one per cent of gross gaming revenue to player safety and social accountability initiatives.<\/p>\n

Online gambling will never be completely safe, but Bill 24 is a step toward implementing some safeguards, said Nally.<\/p>\n

“We’re putting these regulations in Jell-O and not granite. If we need to change them, if we need to make some adjustments, we’re happy to do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, we need these companies to be able to compete against the black market operators because the best way to get rid of the black market is to have a healthy, regulated legal market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albertans will have their choice of online gambling websites come July 13, when the province expects to launch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[173233,173230,10030,173228,103,61,60,410,411,173232,32987,173234,173229,173235,173231],"class_list":{"0":"post-390712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-alberta-act","9":"tag-alberta-igaming-corporation","10":"tag-black-market","11":"tag-dale-nally","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-mental-health","16":"tag-mentalhealth","17":"tag-minister-of-service-alberta","18":"tag-online-gambling","19":"tag-player-safety","20":"tag-regulated-market","21":"tag-student-advocates-for-public-health","22":"tag-university-of-alberta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}