British Columbia Online Gambling Laws

Brief History of Legalized Gambling in BC Canada

In British Columbia, gambling has been legal for decades, in one form or another. In 1974, BC teamed up with Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan to form the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC), following a 1969 amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada that gave provinces the right to authorize “lottery schemes”.

Then in 1985, BC gained independence from the WCLC, developing its own British Columbia Lottery Corp (BCLC). One year later, they began introducing national and provincial lottery games, as well as the first pull tabs.

Getting back to the fact, BC held its first Keno draw in 1995, expanding further into slot machines in 1997. It’s pretty clear at this point that BC’s populace has a very liberal mindset when it comes to gambling. The next two decades on the timeline continue much the same, seeing exponential growth in its casino gambling industry.

The Move to Gamlbing Online

Perhaps the most significant move was the launch of PlayNow.com in 2004. PlayNow was the first provincially-authorized and regulated gambling website in Canada. For six years, it played host to BCLC’s lottery, peddling number-draw and instant-win tickets.

In 2010, BCLC paved another new road in the history of iGaming. Another PlayNow expansion brought online casino games to the website, marking the first jurisdiction in all of North America to launch a locally licensed and regulated online casino. With notably less fanfare, online poker was added in 2011. The original sports lottery (parlay-style betting) also saw an expansion in 2012, in which BCLC incorporated live betting and futures.

Fast forward to 2018, BCLC partnered with world-renowned live casino supplier Evolution Gaming to bring live dealer table games to PlayNow. To ensure all local regulations were met, Evolution was invited to open a live studio in Vancouver, BC.

Single-Event Sports Betting Revolution

All of Canada swooned in February 2020 with the introduction of a promising measure to legalize single-event sports betting. It came from Sask. MP Kevin Waugh, who tabled Bill C-218, The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act. It passed with flying colors in 2021. Amending the Criminal Code, it permits wagers on single outcomes, thereby doing away with the age-old limitations of parlay-style betting.

British Columbia was beyond ready for the passage of that bill. It had already enacted legislation that would legalize single-event bets in BC the very moment Bill C-218 went into effect. In preparation, BCLC contracted software suppliers and odds aggregators, setting up a sports betting platform that would be ready to go live at the press of a button.

The button was pressed on August 27, 2021, bringing single-event online sports betting to BC’s PlayNow the very day Canada enacted the new law. 

Online Gambling Laws in British Columbia

We know that online gambling is legal in BC. As the above timeline portrays, the adult (19+) population has access to casino, poker, sports, and lottery games on the BCLC’s provincial iGaming website. However, the laws of BC are what you might call narrow-sighted.

They don’t deal specifically with what is and is not illegal. That part is mandated by the Criminal Code of Canada. BC laws deal specifically with the province’s regulated activities, and who’s able to conduct them.

As for local online gambling services, the BCLC is the only authorized agency capable of conducting online gambling. The laws that legislate this are found here:

Gaming Control Act, Pt. 2, Div. 2, Provincial Gaming

Criminal Code of Canada Says the Rest

As for any gambling activity that is not regulated by BCLC, (i.e. offshore gambling websites), we must turn to the Criminal Code of Canada. The federal government’s legal interpretations relating to gambling, in general, are found here:

Part VII, Disorderly Houses, Gaming and Betting

As for the expressly illegal gambling…

Part VII, Section 202, Betting, Pool-Selling, Book-Making, etc.

What Does it All Mean?

Like most regions of Canada, BC falls into a ‘grey area‘ of the law when it comes to online gambling at offshore websites. Yes, BC does offer a wide-sweeping gambling portal for adults physically located in the province, and we strongly encourage you to use it. After all, the money lost on that website goes back into the economy and helps fund important community programs. However, there’s a whole wide world of iGaming that exists beyond Canadian soil.

For those who want more variety, different games, variable odds, insightful promotions, etc., etc… the international market can be quite tempting. So we ask, are offshore gambling sites legal in British Columbia? Are international operators breaking any laws by accepting Canadian players? More importantly, are Canadians breaking any laws by gambling on these websites? In short, what gambling sites are and/or are not legal in British Columbia, Canada? 

Key Takeaways & Conclusions

Based on the bevy of legislation detailed above, we can draw these keynotes from the online gambling laws of BC and Canada.

1. It is perfectly legal to play at BC’s own PlayNow.com website, provided you are age 19+ and physically located within British Columbia (or Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where PlayNow services are extended to).
2. It is not illegal to play at online casinos located outside of Canada.
3. Most international casinos comply with the general gambling laws of BC and Canada. There are a few requirements to fit into that category; (hence the delineation of “most international casinos”). So long as they 1) do not accept underage bettors; 2) the games are audited for fairness; 3) the operator has no physical presence (offices, servers, etc.) on Canadian soil; and 4) does not specifically promote their services in/to Canada, then they are not breaking any laws by accepting Canadian players.
4. If any online casino fails to meet these ‘legal‘ requirements, and accepts Canadians anyway, only the operator is subject to potential penalties. Players who gamble on such websites are not breaking any laws.