iGaming Ontario is the provincial body that runs Ontario’s regulated online gaming market. Any operator that wants to serve Ontario players first registers with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). It then signs an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario (iGO). The market opened to private operators on 4 April 2022, and it is still the only regulated private iGaming market in Canada. This guide sets out what iGaming Ontario is, how the AGCO registration and the iGO agreement fit together, the 100,000 CAD regulatory fee and the 20 percent revenue share, the full cost of entry, a realistic timeline, the advertising rules, and where registrations stall.
Key takeaways
- Regulator: Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO); iGaming Ontario (iGO) signs the operating agreement
- Market launch: 4 April 2022; Ontario is the only regulated private iGaming market in Canada
- AGCO regulatory fee: 100,000 CAD per gaming site each year, on a one or two year registration term
- Revenue share: operators keep 80 percent of gaming revenue; 20 percent goes to the province through iGO
- Testing: all games and critical systems must be certified by an AGCO-registered Independent Testing Laboratory
- Scope: an Ontario registration covers Ontario only, not the rest of Canada
What is iGaming Ontario?
iGaming Ontario is a provincial agency that conducts and manages internet gaming offered through private operators in Ontario. The AGCO regulates the market and registers the companies in it, while iGaming Ontario holds the commercial relationship with each operator. That split matters, because you deal with two bodies rather than one. The AGCO decides whether your company is eligible to hold a registration. iGaming Ontario then signs the operating agreement that lets you take real-money bets from players in the province.
Under this model, a registered operator runs its brand as iGO’s agent. So the operator builds and markets the site, and iGaming Ontario is the legal conduct-and-manage authority behind the offering. This structure exists to keep the market inside the framework of the Canadian Criminal Code, which reserves the conduct and management of gambling to the province. You can read how iGaming Ontario manages the market on its official site. For operators used to a single licence in an offshore jurisdiction, the two-part setup is the first thing to understand about iGaming Ontario.
What the Ontario market covers
The Ontario framework covers online casino, sports betting, and online poker offered to players who are physically located in the province. If your product fits one of those verticals, you can register to offer it once the AGCO and iGaming Ontario clear you. An operator running an online casino Ontario brand alongside a sportsbook confirms that each product sits inside the registered offering and meets the technical standards.
Location is the hard boundary. The registration authorises play by users in Ontario, so your platform must verify that a player is in the province before taking a bet. So players elsewhere in Canada are outside the licence. For that reason, geolocation and country blocking are not optional extras; they are part of the compliance build the AGCO expects before you go live.
AGCO registration and the iGO operating agreement
Entering Ontario takes two approvals that run in sequence. First, the AGCO registers the operator and its gaming-related suppliers through the iAGCO online portal. The AGCO iGaming operator requirements set out what each applicant must disclose. Then iGaming Ontario signs the operating agreement that turns the registration into a live commercial arrangement. You need both. A registration without the iGO operating agreement does not let you take bets. Also, the agreement is only offered to companies the AGCO has already cleared.
Suppliers register too. Any company that provides gaming equipment, platform software, or a game studio to a registered operator holds its own AGCO registration as a gaming-related supplier. In practice, your platform vendor, live-casino provider, and payment partners each register before their products can appear on a licensed Ontario site. Our gaming licensing compliance team maps which of your suppliers require registration and in which category.
What iGaming Ontario costs operators
The headline cost of iGaming Ontario is an AGCO regulatory fee of 100,000 CAD per gaming site each year. Depending on the registration period, you choose a one- or two-year term and pay the corresponding fee up front. In addition, iGaming Ontario takes a 20 percent share of gaming revenue, which the operator pays as part of the operating agreement. However, that share is not a separate gambling tax; instead, it is the commercial return to the province built into the iGO model.
Suppliers pay less. For example, a gaming-related supplier of equipment or services pays 3,000 CAD a year, while a manufacturer of gaming equipment pays 15,000 CAD a year. The table below sets out the recurring fees and the revenue share as they stand in 2026.
| Cost item | Ontario position (2026) |
|---|---|
| Operator regulatory fee | 100,000 CAD per gaming site, per year (one or two year term) |
| Supplier registration fee | 3,000 CAD (gaming-related supplier) or 15,000 CAD (manufacturer), per year |
| Revenue share to iGO | 20 percent of gaming revenue; operators keep 80 percent |
| Corporate tax | Federal and Ontario corporate tax apply to the registered entity, on top of the revenue share |
Because the 20 percent share applies to gaming revenue rather than profit, it changes the unit economics of an Ontario operation from day one. So model the share into your projections before you commit, alongside the fixed fee and your corporate tax position.
The full cost of entering Ontario beyond the fee
The 100,000 CAD fee is only the visible part of the budget. The full AGCO fee schedule covers every registration class and what the first year costs in total. Registration carries several other costs that operators often leave out of a first estimate, and each runs on its own supplier and timeline. Break the spend into its parts, because the fee alone understates what market entry actually takes. The table below shows the components that sit inside a typical Ontario setup.
| Component | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Entity and personal disclosure | Corporate structure charts, beneficial ownership down to 5 percent, and director disclosures |
| Background and financial checks | Criminal record checks for key individuals, financial statements, and tax assessments |
| Independent testing (ITL) | Certification of games and critical systems by an AGCO-registered Independent Testing Laboratory |
| Compliance and gap analysis | A documented plan showing how and when the platform meets the Registrar’s Standards |
| Legal and advisory | Application preparation, the iGO operating agreement, and Ontario counsel |
| Payments and banking | Canadian payment processing and a corporate account able to handle gaming settlement |
The testing and gap-analysis lines matter most, because the AGCO reviews them closely. Game and system certification is a live obligation, so a casino that adds new studios arranges further testing for those additions. Payment onboarding also deserves early attention, since Canadian processors and banks assess a gaming applicant carefully. Our guidance on opening a corporate bank account covers what banks look at before they onboard an operator.
The iGaming Ontario registration process step by step
An Ontario application follows a set path, and most of the elapsed time sits with the applicant rather than the regulator. You prepare the corporate and personal disclosures, submit through iAGCO, clear AGCO due diligence, and then sign the iGaming Ontario operating agreement before certification and launch. The table below sets out each stage and a realistic time to complete it.
| Stage | What happens | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prepare disclosures | Assemble ownership charts, director and key-person disclosures, and financials | 3 to 6 weeks |
| 2. Submit on iAGCO | File the operator registration and pay the fee; suppliers file in parallel | A few days |
| 3. AGCO due diligence | The AGCO reviews eligibility, integrity, and financial standing | Not publicly fixed; plan for several weeks or more |
| 4. iGO operating agreement | Sign the commercial agreement with iGaming Ontario | Runs alongside late-stage AGCO review |
| 5. Testing and go-live | Complete ITL certification and the gap analysis, then launch | 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the platform |
The AGCO does not publish a fixed review window, so treat the timeline as an end-to-end project rather than a single deadline. When the gap analysis shows outstanding items, you commit to a schedule for closing them, and the regulator holds you to that plan. Our gaming licence acquisition service manages the disclosures and the iAGCO filing so the review runs in fewer passes.
Advertising, inducements, and player protection rules
Ontario applies strict marketing rules through the AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards, and enforcement is active. Public advertising of bonuses, inducements, and credits is prohibited across all channels, including affiliate content, social media, and search. Operators may show a bonus only on their own platform or through direct marketing to a player who has actively consented. Standard 2.03, updated in February 2024, also bars active and retired athletes and celebrities from iGaming advertising, apart from responsible gambling messaging. See how Ontario’s advertising rules work in full.
The penalties are real. The AGCO fined one operator 110,000 CAD over affiliate inducement marketing, and it has issued other advertising penalties since launch. So affiliate and marketing compliance is a core operating cost, not an afterthought. If you expand from a market with looser rules, compare the position against a regime like the Italy gambling advertising ban. It restricts promotion in a similar direction. You can read the current marketing rules on the AGCO marketing and advertising standards page.
Where operator registrations stall
Most delays and refusals trace back to the application file, not the regulator. When it runs due diligence, the AGCO examines ownership, the integrity of key individuals, financial standing, and technical readiness. So weak answers in any of those areas slow the review or stop it. The recurring problems are these:
- An ownership chart that does not trace cleanly to the real people behind the company
- Background or integrity findings on a director or key person that raise a suitability concern
- Financial statements or source-of-funds evidence that are thin or inconsistent
- A gap analysis that lists outstanding items without a credible plan or date to close them
- Games or critical systems that lack ITL certification at the point of review
- Any continuing link to the unregulated Ontario market, which the AGCO treats as a serious concern
The fix is preparation. Submit clean disclosures, certified checks, coherent financials, and a gap analysis with real dates, and the AGCO can work through the file faster. Because a registered operator answers to the standards from day one, the compliance function has to be in place before launch, not after. Our key function roles for a gaming licence can staff the compliance and reporting posts the framework expects.
Which markets an Ontario registration covers
An iGaming Ontario registration authorises play by users in Ontario, and nothing beyond it. Ontario is the largest province by population, so the market is significant on its own. Still, the registration does not extend across Canada. Each other province sets its own rules, and most run gambling through a provincial lottery corporation rather than a private-operator model.
The map is changing. Alberta has passed legislation to open a regulated private iGaming market on the Ontario model. See our guide to Alberta’s iGaming legislation for the detail. So the Canada Alberta Ontario iGaming 2026 comparison is now a live planning question for multi-province operators. When Alberta launches, it will run as a separate market with its own registration, not an extension of the Ontario one. Outside Canada, an Ontario registration gives no European Union, United Kingdom, or United States access, because each of those markets runs its own regime. Romania is a clear example: it requires its own Romania online gaming licence regardless of any other registration you hold. So build country blocking into the platform for any market you are not registered to serve.
Who the Ontario market suits
The Ontario market fits operators that can meet a mature regulator’s expectations and carry the cost of doing so. It works well for:
- Established casino and sportsbook operators targeting Canada’s largest regulated market
- Companies that can absorb the 20 percent revenue share and the 100,000 CAD annual fee per site
- Operators with the compliance depth to meet the Registrar’s Standards and the advertising rules
- Groups planning a Canadian footprint that may expand as further provinces open
The route fits less well for a very early-stage operator whose model cannot carry a 20 percent share of gaming revenue, or for a company without the compliance resources to hold registration in a regulated market. When the right entry point depends on your budget, products, and target provinces, a short consultation resolves it faster than a long comparison. To set the Ontario corporate layer up correctly, our guide on gaming company incorporation explains how the holding structure affects both the disclosures and the tax position.
Is iGaming Ontario right for your plan?
Overall, iGaming Ontario suits operators that want access to Canada’s largest regulated online market and can plan around a 100,000 CAD annual fee, a 20 percent revenue share, and the compliance and advertising regime enforced by the AGCO. Therefore, the figures that decide the case are your total first-year costs and revenue-share exposure, rather than the regulatory fee alone. Confirm the current fee, the registration term, and the standards that apply to your product with the AGCO and iGaming Ontario before you commit. For a costed entry plan mapped to Ontario and any further Canadian provinces, speak with the DD Consultus advisory team at contact@licencegaming.com or +356 99408536.
Frequently asked questions
What is iGaming Ontario?
iGaming Ontario (iGO) is a provincial agency that conducts and manages internet gaming offered through private operators in Ontario. It signs the operating agreement with each registered operator, while the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regulates the market and registers the companies in it. Operators run their brands as iGO’s agents within this structure.
Is online gambling legal in Ontario?
Yes. Ontario opened a regulated private online gaming market on 4 April 2022, and licensed operators serve players located in the province. To offer real-money play legally, a company must register with the AGCO and hold an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.
How do operators register for iGaming Ontario?
Operators apply for registration with the AGCO through the iAGCO online portal, submitting corporate structure, ownership, and financial disclosures. Once the AGCO clears the company, iGaming Ontario offers the operating agreement that lets the operator take bets. Gaming-related suppliers register separately in their own category.
How much does iGaming Ontario cost?
The AGCO regulatory fee is 100,000 CAD per gaming site each year, payable on a one or two year term. Suppliers pay 3,000 CAD or 15,000 CAD a year depending on category. Operators also pay iGaming Ontario a 20 percent share of gaming revenue under the operating agreement.
How much revenue share do operators pay in Ontario?
Operators keep 80 percent of gaming revenue and pay 20 percent to the province through iGaming Ontario. This share is the commercial return built into the iGO operating agreement rather than a separate gambling tax. Federal and Ontario corporate tax still apply to the registered entity.
Does an Ontario registration let you operate across Canada?
No. The registration authorises play by users located in Ontario only. Other provinces run their own frameworks, and Alberta has legislated a separate regulated market on the Ontario model that will require its own registration when it launches.
Can operators advertise bonuses in Ontario?
Public advertising of bonuses, inducements, and credits is prohibited across all channels under the AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards. Operators may present a bonus only on their own platform or through direct marketing to players who have actively consented. The AGCO has fined operators for breaching these rules.
How long does AGCO registration take?
The AGCO does not publish a fixed review window, so plan an end-to-end project rather than a single deadline. Preparing disclosures usually takes several weeks, due diligence adds more, and testing and go-live follow the operating agreement. A complete, well-prepared file moves through review in fewer passes.