Canadians are very passionate sports fans. A lot of it comes from national pride, but a good portion of it also comes from a strong desire to bet on the games they love. There are a lot of places for Canadians to bet on sports, but it isn’t always easy to know which places are the best.
With our sportsbook reviews exclusively for Canada, we will fill you in on the places with the fairest odds, the best deposit and withdrawal methods, and the most attractive bonus offers and promotions so that you don’t get caught out in the cold when betting sports from the Great White North.
Sports Betting In Canada
Finding a safe and reliable sports betting website is easier than you think. Because Canada has fewer restrictions than other countries when it comes to online sportsbooks, a lot of sites are at your disposal. That isn’t to say that anything goes, because that is far from the case, but simply to say that there are a lot of options. You don’t have to settle and we don’t want you to settle.
The elements that we highlight and prioritize in our reviews for Canada sportsbooks are the things that we would look for. Your view may be a little bit different, but our goal is to give you a comprehensive breakdown of the pros and cons so that you can make the most informed decision possible.
Province by Province Sports Betting In Canada
Ontario
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) created iGaming Ontario (iGO) to supervise any wager done over the internet, simplified as iGaming, in the province. The Ontario government also runs its own sportsbook operation, PROLINE+, which operates like any other sportsbook starting August 27, 2021. In late January of 2022, the AGCO and iGO announced their intention to launch the province’s legal online gaming market on April 4, 2022.
This invited private gaming operators to register with the AGCO and enter into an operating agreement with iGO, including DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars Sportsbook, and theScore Bet. Ontario is known to be the first province to establish such a welcome.
What Is The Best Sports Betting Site In Ontario?
We rank our top four Ontario sports betting sites here, however we suggest having multiple accounts. Why because it is very important to get the best line available when betting on sports. It can increase your bankroll!
| Rank | Ontario Sportsbook | Why | Register Account |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Proline + | Proceeds support local provincial organizations | Go to Proline + |
| 2. | BetMGM | King Of All Sportsbooks | Go to BetMGM |
| 3. | DraftKings | Best Mobile App | Go to DraftKings |
| 4. | Caesars | Huge Odds Boosts Daily | Go to Caesars Now |
| 5. | BetRivers | Large offering of alt. lines and props | Go to Betrivers |
For More On Ontario Sports Betting Click Here
Quebec
Loto Quebec has been offering parlay sports betting for quite a long time. However, on August 12 last year, the corporation announced its single-event wagering starting August 27.
British Columbia
British Columbia started to allow single-game wagering on August 27, and launched Play Now, the province-run lottery and sports betting product.
Prairie Provinces
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta provinces formed together the Western States Lottery Corporation (WSLC). The corporation runs lottery games and sports betting called Sport Select, which offers a parlay-style sportsbook. However, Alberta has its own provincial-run online casino called Play Alberta and has been planning an online sportsbook under the same brand to be launched in 2022.
Atlantic Provinces
The Atlantic provinces, which include New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, have the Atlantic Lottery to oversee all the region’s feature lottery games and sports betting.
Atlantic Lottery has started to offer an expanded sports betting product in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. However, it remains silent on its plan to allow commercial operators to extend to the region.
Here are the key factors in our evaluations of Canadian sportsbooks:
Fair Odds & Betting Options
Because you have a lot of different sportsbooks available to you, we want to ensure that you are getting signed up at a place that has fair odds and a lot of betting options. These days, posting spreads, money lines, and totals isn’t enough. Sportsbooks are fully aware that they need to have lots of props and futures listed across multiple sports markets.
Furthermore, just posting the major four North American leagues and the major US college sports aren’t enough. International markets and sports like golf, tennis, soccer, and UFC are widely bet and wildly popular these days. You want to sign up with a sportsbook that offers a diverse set of betting markets.
Also, you want those odds to be fair. You wouldn’t want to sign up at a sportsbook that uses a standard vig of -115 when you could be somewhere at -110 or maybe even with reduced juice. You don’t want to be at a place that has a 40% theoretical hold on a golf tournament when you could have 30%.
Most sportsbook review sites will gloss over those factors in hopes of just getting conversions. We pay attention to the details.
Deposits & Withdrawals
Getting your money in is generally pretty easy. The sportsbooks are happy to take it. Getting your money out can be a whole lot more difficult.
But, not all sportsbooks are created equal when it comes to deposits. Some offer a variety of deposit methods. Others may only offer a couple ways of getting your money in. Flexibility is important. If you want to use a debit card or credit card, just about every sportsbook will take those. Others will use different payment processors or Bitcoin, which give users more peace of mind.
When it comes to withdrawals, you generally aren’t requesting a payout for the fun of it. You want that money and you want it in a timely fashion. The top-rated sportsbooks will process withdrawal requests quickly and get the funds en route as soon as possible. Fees are also an important factor when it comes to withdrawals. You want to get as much of your payout as possible without a big chunk going to the fees.
Bonuses, Promotions, & Offers
Every Canadian sportsbook offers a deposit bonus. Some of them are better than others. We highlight all of them for you and stay in contact with the sportsbook operators so that we can offer the best possible deals to our readers.
But, what happens once you sign up? Do promotions and offers keep coming? Are they just happy to have your business and that’s that? We are always checking on daily and weekly promotions and offers, including sportsbooks with referral bonuses or lucrative reload deposit bonuses.
Some of the sportsbooks offer tournaments or handicapping contests. If those sportsbooks have a casino, you may get special promotions and bonus offers on certain games or blackjack tournaments. It is important to know that the sportsbook is happy to have you there and is willing to show that through additional offers.
Convenience & Appearance
Just like people, places, or things, some just look better than others. Appearance could be a big factor for you. Accessibility could be a big factor. Are the odds easy to read? Are the menus well-defined so that you can find what you are looking for? Are multiple languages offered?
Also, we’re in the third decade of the 21st century. Mobile betting is very much a thing. The site needs to have a mobile-friendly layout. The live betting interface needs to be crystal clear. In an industry with a lot of supply and a lot of demand, little things can make the difference between a sign up and somebody going somewhere else. Sportsbooks need to prioritize their looks.
Customer service needs to be available to handle any issues that arise. These things are all important.
Casino, Poker, Racebook
If you’re looking at our site, it is probably because you are most interested in sports betting. However, if a casino, a poker room, or a racebook are at the site you sign up with, you are probably going to get involved from time to time with those forms of gambling as well.
Online casinos primarily feature slot machines, but the best of the best will have a lot of different table game options. Most online casinos have expanded to include Live Dealer games that simulate an in-person casino experience and have that with blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and more.
Poker rooms can be tough to find with some of the top-rated sportsbooks these days, but that option is going to be available to you if it is something that you want.
Similarly, racebooks aren’t quite as prevalent as they used to be with a lot of betting sites specifically dedicated to horse racing, but those can be a great addition to any one-stop shop for all of your gaming needs.
Types of Popular Sports Bets and Teams in Canada
Parlay bet, a type of bet that combines multiple plays on one wager is the most well-known wager in Canada. Straight wagers, such as moneyline, point spread and over/under bets, are also available in several provinces. Canadian online betting sites also aim to offer individual game and player props, as well as futures, such as for NBA or NHL, in the near future.
It is no surprise that NHL is the most popular sport in Canada with Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and Vancouver Canucks leading the popularity chart. Other popular options across the Great White North region is Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, and Winnipeg Jets. Both the Leafs and Habs, being part of the Original Six NHL teams, have robust fanbases. Meanwhile, the Canucks, Flames, Oilers, and Jets, the only big four major league sports teams in their respective cities, also earn big respect back at home.
NBA is also quite popular with Toronto Raptors being the only Canadian franchise in the league, who won their first NBA championship in 2019 with Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and Pascal Siakam at the helm. The team earned more fans after the Vancouver Grizzlies departed for Memphis in 2001.
For MLB, the Toronto Blue Jays are leading as Canada’s only active team after the dissolution of the Montreal Expos. The same goes for MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays, who won back-to-back World Series in 1992-93. In 2015, they won an East Division title. The Pacific Northwest also shows loyalty to the Seattle Mariners, despite the fact that the Mariners is not a Canadian MLB team.
The same goes for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, who earned a strong following in Ontario – probably due to their proximity. Seattle Seahawks, who share the Washington state border with BC, get the same treatment as the Mariners as well from the British Columbians. The Canadians also
resort to Canadian Football League (CFL) for professional football, which has been in operation since 1958. It champions eight teams: BC Lions, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Elks, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes, Ottawa Redblacks, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Toronto Argonauts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Great White North also has the soft spot for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), with figures like French-Canadian MMA icon Georges St-Pierre setting the base for the strong presence despite his retirement from the UFC in 2019 with a 26-2 record. The country is known to have many loyal fans with major pay-per-view events earning quite the sum each season.
Other popular leagues are the MLS with CF Montreal, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC or the NLL with Calgary Roughnecks, Halifax Thunderbirds, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, and Vancouver Warriors. CPSL and CEBL are starting to rise to their own audiences in Canada as well.
How to Place a Bet at Online Sportsbooks in Canada
Signup processes at most online sportsbooks are relatively easy. It usually follows these steps:
- Choose the online sportsbook site that suits your needs. Get to know the new betting platform, make sure of its eligibility for your site and the league you’re betting on.
- Ensure you can get the welcome bonus benefit. For a free first bet promo, you would usually need to follow an affiliate link or enter a promo code. Some would just give this automatically.
- Provide the required personal information to open a new account, it usually involves your name, social security number, and payment information.
- Select a username and password.
- Place your deposit. Usually, some operators would offer a matching first deposit bonus where the operator provides a set number and provide a match to the user’s first deposit up to such a set amount.
- Pick your league and types of bet, then place your first bet.
Is sports betting legal in Canada?
This question comes up time and time again. The answer is yes sports betting is legal in Canada so long as you are legal age and are playing on Canadian lottery websites.
Canadian gaming laws have permitted wagering on sporting events since the early 1990s after the Canadian Criminal Code got amended in 1985 to allow certain forms of sports betting. However, it was limited to the lottery format only. Back in those days, bettors needed to go to a physical sports betting site or partner to place their wagers.
Online sports betting is now legal in Canada. In August 2021, Canada amended its Criminal Code to allow for single-game sports betting through Bill C-218. However, it is to be noted the law does not make sports betting legal throughout Canada. Instead, the provinces need to decide individually whether they want to allow it – and if they do, what are the types of betting they allow.
Each province is able to regulate sports betting on its own through the provincial lottery corporations, such as the Ontario Lottery Corporation, British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Loto-Quebec. Some institutions supervise an entire territory instead of an individual province, such as the Western Canada Lottery Corporation which regulates all betting in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon, as well as the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Canadian online sports betting is still growing with more and more operators are coming to indulge Canadian bettors with an abundance of options with companies like FanDuel, Bet365, PointsBet and theScore Bet are flocking into the country.
Conclusion
So that’s what we do here. We look through all of these factors and then some in order to help you find the best sports betting sites in Canada and around the globe. It is important to know what matters the most to you and to consider those places accordingly.
Sign up is easy across the board for all of these places, but this is about so much more than creating an account. That is why we are here to help!
