Gambling advertising rules in Canada: Ontario and Alberta control what an ad says and who appears in it

In Ontario and Alberta, gambling advertising rules are provincial regulator standards that control the content of ads for regulated online gambling: which offers an ad may show and who may appear in it. They are not limits on how often ads run: Alberta’s regulator states it does not control ad frequency, and federal Bill S-211, which would require a framework identifying measures that could restrict sports betting ads, including limits on their number, scope or location, is not law as of September 13, 2026.

Ontario’s ban on public inducement advertising

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) sets Ontario’s online gambling advertising rules in its Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming. Ontario’s Standard 2.05 prohibits all public advertising that communicates gambling inducements, bonuses and credits, including targeted and algorithm-based ads, except on an operator’s own gaming site and in direct marketing sent after the player actively consents.

In Ontario igaming regulation, an inducement is any offer that may persuade or encourage a person to gamble, or to gamble frequently. Ontario’s examples include sign-up and deposit offers, rewards, bonuses, boosted odds, refund or stake-back offers, multi-bet offers and winnings paid on losing bets.

Ontario’s athlete and celebrity ban

Standard 2.03 bars Ontario igaming ads from using active or retired athletes who have an agreement or arrangement with an operator or gaming-related supplier, except for the exclusive purpose of advocating responsible gambling practices. Standard 2.03 also bars Ontario igaming ads from using cartoon figures, symbols, role models, influencers, celebrities and entertainers likely to appeal to minors, and from appearing on billboards or outdoor displays directly adjacent to schools or other primarily youth-oriented locations.

The AGCO consulted on the athlete ban in April 2023, announced it on August 29, 2023, and brought it into effect on February 28, 2024. The amendment also widened the youth test from content with a “primary appeal to minors” to celebrities, influencers, entertainers, cartoon figures and symbols that “would likely be expected to appeal to minors.”

How the AGCO has enforced its advertising standards

In June 2022 the AGCO served Crown DK CAN Ltd., DraftKings’ Ontario entity, with a $100,000 Order of Monetary Penalty, alleging that between May 19 and May 31, 2022 it aired or posted inducements, including boosted 2:1 odds, on television and social media, contrary to Standard 2.05. In March 2025 the AGCO served BetMGM Canada with a $110,000 order under Standards 1.19 and 2.05 over allegations that marketing companies acting for it offered the public cash to open accounts, including $100 for opening an account and depositing $15 at the National Franchise Show in January 2024. Both penalties enforce the inducement rule; neither applies the 2024 athlete rule.

Where Ontario’s advertising rules reach only indirectly

• Athletes in responsible-gambling ads. Ontario’s Standard 2.03 permits athletes with operator deals when the exclusive purpose is advocating responsible gambling. S-211’s House sponsor, MP Bardish Chagger, called this a workaround in the House of Commons on February 12, 2026: athletes and celebrities can still appear in what purport to be operators’ public service ads urging people to “bet within your limits.” The 2024 CCSA/Greo report observes that operator-produced responsible-gambling messages, often required by regulators, frequently include brand names and logos, which reinforces brand recognition.
• Marketing affiliates. Websites that send traffic to operator sites for a commission or other payment may not need to register with the AGCO as gaming-related suppliers, but the standards still reach them through the operator. Ontario’s Standard 1.19 makes operators responsible for contracted affiliates meeting the advertising standards, and Ontario’s Standard 1.21 requires operators to ensure their paid marketers do not also promote unregistered sites taking Ontario bets.
• Placement. Ontario’s Standard 2.03 placement rule covers billboards and outdoor displays directly adjacent to schools or other primarily youth-oriented locations and does not address broadcast time slots.

How much betting advertising Canadians see

Two figures describe betting-ad volume, and neither states its data source or measurement method. Senator Marty Deacon told the Senate on September 19, 2023 that viewers of the 2023 Leafs-Panthers NHL playoff series saw nine minutes of sports betting advertising over the course of a game in that series. The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) said in its 2025 brief on Bill S-211 that gaming ads were about 2% of total television advertising in Canada and that no gaming company was among the top advertisers during the 2025 NHL playoffs.

Alberta’s rules and spillover into British Columbia

As of September 2026, Alberta’s registered iGaming operators, regulated by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), may not use athletes or people who appeal to minors to endorse their product unless promoting responsible gambling features, and their ads must reference responsible gambling information, including 211 Alberta. The Alberta regulator does not control how often gambling ads appear or how much advertising operators or media providers run. Alberta’s AGLC directs concerns about gambling ad frequency or placement to the CRTC, which oversees broadcasting.

As of September 13, 2026, BetMGM Canada Inc., FanDuel Canada ULC, Rush Street Interactive Canada ULC and Score Media & Gaming Inc. hold Alberta iGaming operator registrations and appear in iGaming Ontario’s directory, which listed 49 operators as of September 1, 2026.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), which competes with Ontario-licensed brands, says their advertising crosses into B.C. Its 2026/27–2028/29 service plan states that since 2022, advertising across Canada for sites licensed only in Ontario drives players outside Ontario to affiliated sites of the same brands, which are not regulated in B.C. and are therefore illegal there.

Bill S-211: a federal framework, not a ban

As of September 13, 2026, Bill S-211, the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act, would not restrict any ad itself. The text passed by the Senate would require the Minister of Canadian Heritage to develop a national framework identifying measures to regulate sports betting advertising, with a view to restricting its use, limiting the number, scope or location of ads, or limiting or banning celebrities and athletes in sports betting promotion. Under that text, the Minister would report within one year after the Act comes into force, and the CRTC would review its own regulations and policies by the first anniversary of royal assent.

As of September 13, 2026, S-211 is at consideration in committee in the House of Commons, referred to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage after second reading on April 22, 2026, with no committee activity recorded. Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire told the House on February 12, 2026 that the bill intrudes on jurisdiction belonging exclusively to Quebec and the provinces. In 2025-26 advocacy on Bill S-211, the CGA opposed a federal layer, arguing that provincial regulation is already strong and federal rules risk confusion, overlap and growth of unregulated markets.

Why advertising volume matters for gambling harm

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction’s 2024 report concludes that the volume of advertising repeatedly pairing sports with betting normalises gambling as part of being a sports fan. The same 2024 report finds single-event and in-play sports betting, the products being promoted, associated with greater risk of harm. The 2024 CCSA/Greo report assumes that, although gambling advertising is not targeted at youth, many minors are exposed to it while watching sports or other events supported by gambling advertising; that part of the report gives no Canadian measurement of that exposure and rests largely on international studies. Normalisation and that assumed youth exposure both run on the volume of ads rather than on the content of any single ad.

Ontario Problem Gambling Helpline calls naming online gambling averaged 29.0 a month from June 2021 to March 2022 and 92.9 a month from April 2022 to January 2023, and online gambling’s share of calls that named a game type rose from 34% to 48%, after online gambling marketing expanded from April 2022. An interrupted time-series analysis found a significant association between Ontario’s expansion of legal online gambling and its advertising, taken together, and calls about online gambling, with no significant effect on calls about other game types. The finding is an association in helpline demand, not a measure of how many people are harmed.

In June 2024, CCSA and Greo reported that Canada had no national or provincial/territorial monitoring of gambling-related harm and that the last national public assessment of gambling participation and harm was in 2018. Ontario’s 2024 athlete ban took effect with no national harm assessment newer than 2018 reported to judge it against.