When it comes to online gambling, Canadians are much more fortunate than their Southern neighbours. The activity is not technically illegal in either country, but the United States’ government has made the process of transferring money to an online gambling operation a crime. In Canada, this is simply not the case, and many online casinos have opened up their services to Canadian citizens. As an added bonus, Canadian players are not required to pay any taxes on their winnings from Canadian-based online casinos.
Most of the online casinos that cater to Canadians are registered by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which began licensing online gambling establishments in 1999. It operates on three main criteria: only suitable individuals (no minors or players in illegal jurisdictions) are able to play at these casinos, games are fair to all players and all payments must be made to every winner.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission presents itself as a beneficial alternative to offshore service providers. As many online gambling operations are based in the Caribbean, there is always the small chance that service disruptions may occur due to the weather emergencies that are common in that area. Additionally, Kahnawake is located close to Montreal, a metropolitan centre that provides the commission with the amount of bandwidth required to host an operation as comprehensive as an online casino.
There are still a few online casinos that restrict access to Canadian players, but not for legal reasons. In January 2009, Rival software design stopped accepting players from Canada, due to a disagreement with a Montreal-based Marketing company. All other Kahnawake casinos and these continue to permit Canadian players, including:
