Ontario is Canada’s most populous province, but it is also home to dozens of online casinos. In the iGaming industry, Ontario is popular for its licensing body, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Below are all the Ontario online casinos, i.e., online casinos licensed by AGCO.
Casinos With the AGCO Licence
Online casinos that apply for and receive a licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario are allowed to provide casino games only to Ontario residents. Likewise, players who want to access online casinos in Ontario can only do so within Ontario borders, despite the fact that gameplay is online.
The province of Ontario has specific regulations regarding online gambling compared to the other provinces in Canada. The market has been open since 2022, when private online casinos were allowed to apply for the AGCO licence and offer their games to Ontario players.
At the moment, AskGamblers lists 39 online casinos that offer their gambling services to Ontario players. Casinos with the AGCO licence adhere to a set of strict rules to operate in this province. For example, they have to provide a set of responsible gambling tools that help players set and amend gambling limits easily.
Ontario casinos are also prohibited from advertising bonuses, credits, and other gambling inducements anywhere except on their website or through direct advertising and marketing after receiving consent from a player.
How to Get the AGCO Licence
Before you apply to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to get the licence, you should know that the regulatory body issues several different licences:
- Casino licence
- Lottery licence
- Betting licence
- Online gambling licence
Applying for online casino licences differs for every market or regulatory body. In Ontario, all land-based operators are under contract with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), after which they apply for a licence.
To operate a regulated iGaming site in Ontario, casinos need to follow the procedure on the AGCO website, which contains several steps. To start the process, they must complete multiple steps with Ontario iGaming and pay the registration fee of $100,000 per site per year.
Casino representatives will have to create an iAGCO account for the first application. Don’t forget to prepare documents, including operator application, Registrar’s Standards gap analysis, personal disclosure form for each person you put on the application, entity disclosure form, registration fee and supporting documents (that you’d be informed about).
After submitting all the documents, wait for the AGCO’s decision. Even when you receive the licence, you must be a responsible operator to remain active in the market. The AGCO’s website is well-organised and provides a more detailed guide on how to apply for a licence with required links to needed websites and forms.
The Benefits of Playing at the AGCO Licenced Casinos
Players looking for the best online casinos in Ontario are lucky because not everyone can receive an online gambling licence from AGCO. Only the casinos that meet the standards can provide online gambling services to Ontario players.
Some of the main benefits of playing at the AGCO licenced casinos include:
- Safety and security: Online casinos that feature the licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario commit to keeping your data safe, including payment information and personal details.
- Controlled environment: You participate in a controlled environment because Ontario casinos online have to provide responsible gambling tools for players to use. This prevents the development of detrimental gambling habits.
- Fair gameplay: All the games offered in Ontario casinos must be fair. Operators must use the latest technologies and provide games from software providers that have also earned the required licence.
How to Find the Best AGCO Casinos
It’s hard to determine what the best online casinos in Ontario are. There aren’t many online casinos that allow players from Ontario. Still, as a player, you can filter through different casinos until you pick the one you like.
The fact that Ontario casinos already have the licence from the AGCO speaks a lot about their reputation and reliability. At AskGamblers, we’ve gone one step further to help you select your favourite Ontario casino.
You can go through our list of online casinos and read the reviews about each of them. We’ve analysed different segments of each casino, the games they offer and tested their customer service to see if there are any bottlenecks in the process. Therefore, read our review and check CasinoRank for each casino you’re interested in.
When choosing an online casino in Ontario, also pay attention to what games you love and if you enjoy spending time on the website. Casinos may offer different payment options, so see if it fits the one you love using. Lastly, other players leave genuine reviews at AskGamblers, so see what your fellow gamblers think about a specific gambling website.
Software Compatible With AGCO Casinos
Online casino software refers to companies that create casino games. Software providers, too, require a licence to provide games in a specific market. Software providers must register with the AGCO and obtain their licence so that operators can offer their games to Ontario players.
The process is similar to that of casinos. They must check eligibility, prepare their application, and apply online and through the iAGCO portal.
Once software providers submit everything and pay fees significantly smaller than casinos' (gaming-related suppliers pay $15,000 annually), they must wait for the final decision.
Ontario players can ensure that they access games that are provably fair, giving them reasonable chances of winning. They also have an insight into RTP, volatility and other characteristics of online slots and other games, supplying them with all the information necessary before committing to play.
