Are prediction markets and daily fantasy sports legal in Canada?

An event contract, also called a prediction market contract, is a product whose settlement is based on the outcome of an underlying future occurrence or event, which may be structured with a fixed or contingent payout, as described in Joint CSA and CIRO Staff Notice 91-307 of August 27, 2026. Under the August 27, 2026 view of securities regulators’ staff, an event contract on a sports or entertainment outcome should not be regulated within securities and derivatives legislation.

In Ontario, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) treats pay-to-play daily fantasy sports (DFS) as gambling under the Criminal Code and permits it under its internet gaming standards. As of August 27, 2026, the two authorized CIRO dealer members may facilitate only event contracts based on economic, environmental or financial indicators, traded and cleared through certain U.S. regulated exchanges. As reported on August 28, 2026, British Columbia’s Independent Gambling Control Office treats trading on sports or entertainment outcomes, including on Polymarket and Kalshi, as gambling.

How the Criminal Code defines a game and a bet

Part VII of the Criminal Code governs gaming and betting. Section 197 defines a “game” as a game of chance or of mixed chance and skill, so a contest does not have to be pure chance to fall within the gaming provisions. It defines a “bet” as a bet placed on any contingency or event in or out of Canada, including a contingency relating to a horse-race, fight, match or sporting event. Section 206(1)(f) makes it an offence to dispose of goods, wares or merchandise by any game of chance or mixed chance and skill in which the contestant pays money or other valuable consideration.

Part VII is a prohibition with exemptions. Gambling is prohibited except where the Code specifically permits it, a principle the provisions do not state explicitly, as described in a 2002 overview.

Why a skill element does not settle daily fantasy sports

A “game” already includes mixed chance and skill, so showing that DFS rewards skill does not by itself take a paid contest outside Part VII. In Ontario, the AGCO treats pay-to-play fantasy sports as a form of gambling under the Criminal Code and permits it under its internet gaming standards.

Ontario’s s.207(1)(a) route for sportsbooks and exchanges

Section 207(1)(a) makes it lawful, despite Part VII’s gaming and betting provisions, for the government of a province, alone or with another province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province in accordance with provincial law. Online gambling is lawful on that basis where a provincial government conducts and manages it.

“Conduct and manage” is a control test. In 2024 the Ontario Superior Court held that a province must exert enough control to remain the scheme’s “operating mind”, and must do more than distantly oversee or regulate it.

As of September 2026, companies offering sport and event betting in Ontario must be registered with the AGCO and be conducted and managed by iGaming Ontario (iGO) or the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG). Ontario’s Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming list exchange betting as a sport and event bet. In Ontario, a betting exchange uses the same legal route as a sportsbook.

Notice 91-307: what securities regulators’ staff said about event contracts

In Joint CSA and CIRO Staff Notice 91-307 of August 27, 2026, staff of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) said event contracts based on sports and entertainment events or outcomes should not be regulated within securities and derivatives legislation. In the same August 27, 2026 notice, staff of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) said they would not facilitate or approve dealer-member applications to trade sports and entertainment event contracts. These are staff views in a staff notice, not a rule or a court decision. As of August 27, 2026, the staff positions leave no CIRO dealer route for sports and entertainment event contracts.

As of August 27, 2026, two CIRO dealer members were authorized to facilitate a limited set of event contracts under terms CIRO set in consultation with the CSA: contracts traded and cleared through certain U.S. regulated exchanges and clearing houses and based on economic, environmental or financial indicators. In Ontario, Standard 4.34 of the internet gaming standards prohibits gambling operators from taking bets on assets and financial markets, such as stocks, bonds and currencies. The notice also flags Multilateral Instrument 91-102, which, in the jurisdictions that adopted it, prohibits trading a binary option with a term to maturity under 30 days with or to an individual. MI 91-102 defines a binary option as a contract that pays only a predetermined fixed amount if the underlying interest meets predetermined conditions, and zero or another predetermined fixed amount if it does not.

Which gambling regulators have acted on fantasy sports, exchanges and prediction markets

In Ontario, the AGCO is responsible for regulatory oversight of all gaming, including private igaming operators, suppliers and iGO, and describes its regulatory role as separate from iGO’s commercial role. The AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards for Gaming, which govern land-based operators, apply sport and event betting requirements to betting exchange and fantasy sports products and exchange bets. Ontario’s sport and event betting standards require operators to monitor betting markets for suspicious activity, to engage independent integrity monitors, and to bar insiders such as coaches, athletes and referees from betting on certain events. On September 13, 2026, iGO’s regulated-site directory listed one site under Betting Exchange: STX. As of September 13, 2026, STX describes its Ontario platform as intended solely for betting on sports, not as a financial or investing tool.

British Columbia’s Independent Gambling Control Office (IGCO) launched on April 13, 2026, replacing the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. As reported on August 28, 2026, the IGCO considers products based on sports or entertainment outcomes to be gambling under B.C.’s current legislation, including trading on Polymarket and Kalshi, and says unregulated operators offering them to B.C. users are operating illegally.

Liquidity limits on daily fantasy sports pools

A DFS contest is a peer-to-peer game, so a pool confined to one province draws only on that province’s players. Ontario-only pools were small enough, in the November 2025 assessment of practitioners, that peer-to-peer games such as poker and DFS were not economically viable for certain regulated operators, and unregulated operators filled the gap. The AGCO’s undated player-information page, still online on September 13, 2026, says it understands that operators are not offering pay-to-play fantasy sports in Ontario, primarily because they cannot let people outside Ontario into the regulated offering. As of September 13, 2026, the Alberta iGaming Corporation requires all player liquidity pools and peer-to-peer network games to be ring-fenced to players physically located in Alberta; the rule covers peer-to-peer games generally and does not name fantasy sports.

Polymarket’s close-only provinces and the risks of unregulated sites

As of September 13, 2026, Polymarket lists British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec as close-only jurisdictions, where users can close existing positions but cannot open new ones. In May 2026, B.C.’s Finance Minister told the legislature that advertising had increased for sites regulated in Ontario but operating illegally in other provinces, including British Columbia. As of September 13, 2026, iGaming Ontario warns that on sites run by unregulated operators there is no guarantee that deposits are securely stored, and payouts could be delayed or not given at all.

Pooled liquidity at the Supreme Court of Canada

In Reference re iGaming Ontario, 2025 ONCA 770, released in November 2025, a five-judge Court of Appeal for Ontario panel split four to one. As summarized by Torys LLP, the majority held that the text, purpose and scheme of s.207(1)(a) support the conclusion that Ontario is permitted to link its proposed provincially managed igaming scheme with foreign jurisdictions. In the Torys LLP summary, the dissenting judge reasoned that a provincially managed lottery must be conducted and managed in the province, so that pooling funds between Ontario players and players outside Canada means the games would not occur entirely “in the province” or be conducted and managed entirely by Ontario.

As of September 13, 2026, the Supreme Court of Canada appeal from 2025 ONCA 770 (file 42141) is scheduled for hearing on October 7, 2026. The reference concerns pooling with players outside Canada, a narrower question than the AGCO’s understanding that operators cannot let people outside Ontario into the regulated DFS offering.