B.C. Regulators Call Status Quo Unsustainable as Canada’s Igaming Wave Builds

^{A full ballroom in Vancouver listens to a speaker at BCLC’s New Horizons on Safer Gambling conference. (Photo: Joe Ewens / Casinos.com)}

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Regulators and industry leaders at the New Horizons on Safer Gambling conference said Canada’s patchwork online market is becoming untenable, with British Columbia under pressure to follow Alberta and Ontario.

With Alberta having joined Ontario in allowing private operators access to online gambling licenses and Quebec’s newly elected government on course to do the same, there is intense speculation about whether B.C. will follow suit.

Industry stakeholders gathered in Vancouver last week at the New Horizons on Safer Gambling conference, organized by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), where Canada’s new normal for online gaming was top of mind.

“It’s a national conversation we need, to ensure that there are protections for Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” said Mike Randall, a former VP with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation turned industry consultant.

The primary focus of the BCLC event was the cutting edge of safer gambling, but conversations about a possible monopoly-busting switch for B.C. simmered constantly in the background and occasionally bubbled to the surface, particularly when representatives of Independent Gambling Control Office (IGCO) were on stage.

Rachel Cheng, the executive director for strategic policy at IGCO, shied away from taking a firm stance on opening the province’s igaming market, but was clear that the current situation is not sustainable.

Advertising Spillover Drives the Debate

Advertising has emerged as a major sticking point. Particularly via sports broadcasts and social media, advertising ostensibly designed only for eyeballs in Alberta and Ontario routinely makes its way onto screens in British Columbia.

“If [consumers] don't know what’s the safest environment, that’s problematic for the regulator and the government,” said Cheng, adding that she was “hopeful” that provinces and the federal government can come together to broker a solution to the problem.

“What is needed is a mindset shift in our industry from these being provincial issues to consumers engaging with an increasingly national marketplace,” said Molly Cormier, the executive director of the Canadian Alliance for Regulated Gaming (CARG), which represents provincial lottery corporations outside of Alberta and Ontario.

CARG supports Bill S-211 – a piece of advancing federal legislation that would instruct officials in Ottawa to create a nationwide framework for sports betting.

The bill is approaching its third and final reading in parliament, with its sponsors pushing for tough new rules that would restrict sports betting advertising across the country.

B.C. Government Faces a Pivotal Month

Senior civil servants within the British Columbia Ministry of Finance are keeping a close eye on progress in the rest of Canada and are preparing for the possibility that the province’s incoming government will call for reform.

In elections last month B.C. elected a Conservative government for the first time in nearly 100 years. Ministers are due to be appointed later in November and will deliver mandates to their teams a few weeks after that.

The position of new Premier Lorne Doerkson on gambling reform is so far unstated, but the Conservatives have pledged to reduce the province’s growing budget deficit.

The lure of tax revenue to plug budget holes proved enticing in Ontario and Alberta, with the latter forecasting it will bring in an extra $109 million for the province during its first full calendar year of the new market.

^{B.C. Premier-designate Lorne Doerkson, seen here speaking at a postelection news conference in Vancouver, will have a big say in what the province’s new Conservative government gets behind. (Photo: Darryl Dyck / Canadian Press Enterprises, Inc. / Alamy Live)}

Vixio Sees a C$2.58 Billion Prize

Economists at Vixio Regulatory Intelligence predict that B.C. could comfortably rival Alberta for gambling revenue, if the province chooses to open up its online sports betting and iCasino markets.

According to calculations from its Canadian Forecasting Dashboard, Vixio estimates that a fully regulated British Columbia online gambling market would generate online gross gambling revenue (GGR) of C$881 million in year one, rising to C$1.71 billion by year three and C$2.58 billion by year five.

Alberta has reported GGR of C$122.1 million generated by the market in its first three months of open licensing.

Data also suggests that British Columbians have a more rapacious appetite for gambling than their fellow Canadians.

“It's worth noting that the BCLC's regulated offering achieves a higher level of online betting/gaming GGR per capita than those of other provincial monopolies,” said Daniel Stone, head of data at Vixio.

Gamblers in B.C. wager around C$72 per capita with the province’s state-owned operator, compared to C$54 in the Atlantic provinces, C$51 in Alberta and C$45 in Quebec, Stone said.

Quebec and New Brunswick Move First

It took six years for another province to follow in Ontario’s footsteps and allow private companies into its regulated market, but after Alberta’s launch this July, momentum has built rapidly across the country.

Following last month’s election, both the largest and second largest parties in Quebec have said they are committed to doing away with the existing Loto-Québec monopoly, potentially opening the market to other licensable operators.

Across the border in New Brunswick, the government has announced plans to explore the ways in which it could re-regulate its own market.

“Online gaming is continuously evolving and the number of options, regulated and unregulated, continues to grow,” Finance Minister René Legacy said.

Although officials are not yet committing to any particular approach, opening licensing in the manner of Alberta and Ontario is one possibility under consideration.

In Vancouver, regulators say they are watching developments on the East coast.

“How it plays out in New Brunswick is going to be a huge learning for the rest of Canada,” confirmed Cheng.