The province of Alberta has filed a motion to intervene in Supreme Court of Canada proceedings regarding a potential change in how online gambling works in Canada as it pertains to peer-to-peer games, such as poker and DFS.
This case stems from an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling issued in November of last year, which found that Ontario could allow players located in Ontario to play against the players of other provinces through regulatory agencies controlling the game in their respective provinces under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Code of Canada. Thus, the court ruled that by having Canada’s regulated gaming entities manage the games through their respective provincial regulatory authorities, there is nothing preventing members from all provinces from competing against each other.
Within days of the November ruling, several Canadian lottery corporations objected to the ruling and had all filed to intervene on behalf of the provinces to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 1st. Each of these entities has stated that allowing for pooled liquidity between players both from inside and outside of the province of Ontario would very seriously cause difficulty in implementing poker laws within Canada and would create further uncertainty surrounding the meaning and applicability of Canadian gambling laws.
Why Alberta Is Involved
As Alberta develops its regulated online gambling system under the new iGaming Alberta Act, this is an opportunity for the province to be a player in how the Supreme Court interprets online gaming regulations within Canada. Alberta’s position on this motion shows that they may become engaged in legal action based on how they can set up their online gambling market, which may use Ontario as a model. Because Ontario’s current online gaming framework uses a closed liquidity mode, Alberta argues that if they do not participate in the Supreme Court’s decision, they would not be able to establish an additional layer of player pools outside of the province until after the launch of their market.
If Alberta and other provinces adopt Ontario’s model and allow expanded player pools, this would significantly increase player pools and prize amounts available in games such as online poker.
The Supreme Court’s ruling could therefore set a precedent for how online gaming is structured across Canada for a long time to come.
