Where Canadian gambling revenue goes: treasuries first, then First Nations, charities and racetracks

Canadian gambling revenue is provincial government revenue first: BCLC remits all of its net income to British Columbia, AGLC must transfer its net income to Alberta’s General Revenue Fund, Loto-Québec paid $1,522.5 million of its $1,525.5 million 2025-26 net income to Quebec as a dividend, and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries delivered $730.1 million from liquor, gaming and cannabis to Manitoba’s general revenue in 2024-25. Some payments to First Nations come from money the province has already received, such as Alberta’s First Nations Development Fund, which is allocated from the General Revenue Fund. Other payments come directly from the corporation: in 2024-25 OLG paid Ontario First Nations, host communities, charities and the Government of Canada. The First Nations shares are fixed by formula or agreement as percentages of gaming revenue or income, and Ontario’s racing payment is a capped dollar amount set by agreement. Alberta licenses charities to conduct and manage casino events. Ontario has had a regulated online market open to operators other than OLG since April 2022, and Alberta’s regulated iGaming market opened in July 2026, according to trade-press reports.

How Canadian gambling money reaches a provincial treasury

A crown lottery corporation is a provincially owned business that earns revenue for the province that owns it. OLG’s mandate as an Ontario crown agency is to provide revenue to Ontario to support government priorities. BCLC remits all of its net income to British Columbia; that net income was $1.373 billion in 2025/26. Loto-Québec reported net income of $1,525.5 million for 2025-26 and paid a dividend of $1,522.5 million to the Quebec government. Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, which sells liquor, gaming and cannabis, delivered $730.1 million from those lines combined to Manitoba in 2024-25. That money went into Manitoba’s general revenue, which funds health care, education and social services.

What each province took in, and why the totals do not add up

The provinces report on different bases (OLG’s segment figures after allocations, AGLC and Manitoba combined with liquor and cannabis, Atlantic Lottery across four provinces), so the figures cannot be summed or ranked. OLG reports Net Profit to the Province: $2,369 million in 2025-26 ($1,348 million from land-based gaming, $771 million from lottery and $250 million from iGaming), up from $2,247 million in 2024-25. AGLC allocated $2.23 billion to Alberta’s General Revenue Fund in 2024-25, but that figure combines gaming, liquor and cannabis; gaming net income alone was $1.49 billion. Atlantic Lottery returned $498.7 million in profit in 2024-25 to its four provincial shareholders combined.

Statistics Canada’s archived definition counted money wagered on government-run lotteries, casinos and VLTs, less prizes, and excluded gambling revenue generated by and for charities and on reserves. Alberta’s $422.8 million in charitable gaming proceeds in 2024-25 would fall outside that measure.

Ottawa’s cut of provincial lottery and gaming revenue

In 2024-25, OLG paid the Government of Canada $436 million for GST/HST and for not participating in the sale of lottery tickets. iGaming Ontario’s GST/HST expense was $304 million in 2024-25, mostly a 13% obligation on its payments to private operators. In 2024-25 iGaming Ontario paid Ontario a dividend of $181 million on net income of $219 million, less than it paid in GST/HST. Atlantic Lottery separately remitted $62.4 million in taxes and federal contributions to the provincial and federal governments in 2024-25.

First Nations gaming revenue shares by province

A share of gross revenue grows with sales whether or not costs rise; a share of net income moves with profit.

• Ontario: 1.7% of OLG’s annual gross revenues goes to the Ontario First Nations (2008) Limited Partnership, which distributes it to 132 First Nations. The 2024-25 payment was $186 million.
• British Columbia: 7% of British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) net income is shared with B.C. First Nations through 2045, under the 2020 long-term agreement and Gaming Control Act amendments.
• Alberta: the First Nations Development Fund is funded by a percentage of revenue from government-owned slot machines in First Nations casinos. It received $159.2 million from the General Revenue Fund in 2024-25 and has provided more than $2 billion since 2006.
• Saskatchewan: the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) splits casino net income three ways: 50% to the First Nations Trust for the province’s 74 First Nations, 25% to Community Development Corporations and 25% to the provincial General Revenue Fund. SIGA’s final distribution of income for 2025-26 was $167 million.
• Manitoba: First Nations VLT siteholders keep 90% of net win, of which 5% pays for hosting the machines. Manitoba commercial VLT siteholders keep 17.5% to 22.0% and veterans’ organizations keep 30%. Take $1,000 of net win: a First Nations site keeps $900, a bar keeps $175 to $220, and a veterans’ hall keeps $300.

Host communities and charities

In 2024-25, OLG paid $165 million to Ontario municipalities and First Nations for hosting land-based casinos and charitable gaming centres, and distributed $111 million in charitable gaming proceeds to local charities.

Criminal Code s.207(1)(b) lets a charitable or religious organization run a lottery scheme under a provincial licence if the proceeds are used for a charitable or religious purpose. AGLC’s 2024-25 report describes Alberta as the only province that licenses charities to conduct and manage casino events. Alberta charities raised $422.8 million through charitable gaming events in 2024-25, 67.6% of it from casino events. Ontario’s Lottery Licensing Policy Manual treats lotteries as a supplement to a charity’s other fundraising and does not allow lottery proceeds to be a charity’s main source of fundraising.

Ontario’s horse racing subsidy from OLG

OLG pays Ontario Racing under a funding agreement, and the payment is a capped dollar amount, not a percentage. Ontario’s 2019 racing funding agreement caps OLG’s annual payment at $116.85 million, subject to adjustments, of which $91.4 million is the Racetracks Payment. The Fifth Amendment to Ontario’s agreement, made as of April 1, 2026, raises the cap to $149.8 million for each funding year from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031. That cap includes a $35 million Special Payment. OLG will pay none of the Special Payment for the three funding years from April 1, 2028 until there is a Confirmed Viability Plan.

Gambling proceeds and problem gambling services in Ontario and Quebec

In Ontario, OLG counts problem gambling prevention and treatment among the provincial priorities that its roughly $64 billion in proceeds since 1975 has helped support. In August 2024, Jeu : aide et référence launched its first fundraising campaign in 30 years, with a $100,000 target, saying that despite recurrent funding from Quebec’s health ministry (MSSS) it needed more resources.

Unlicensed online play and provincial gambling revenue

Ontario’s 1.7% of OLG gross revenues, British Columbia’s 7% of BCLC net income, Alberta’s First Nations Development Fund share of slot revenue, Manitoba’s VLT siteholder shares of net win and SIGA’s 50/25/25 split of casino net income are all percentages of gaming revenue or income. Play lost to an unlicensed site therefore shrinks those streams along with the treasury’s share. Ontario’s racing payment is a capped dollar amount, subject to adjustments under the agreement, not a percentage of gaming revenue. OLG went from being Ontario’s only legal online gaming provider to one of many when the market opened in April 2022. In its 2025-2026 annual report, Loto-Québec gives better oversight and profits that return to the Quebec community as its reasons for taking its place in online gaming, including sports betting. BCLC reported that competition from sites operating illegally in British Columbia limited its iGaming growth in 2024/25. A Quebec Ministry of Finance regulatory impact analysis projected that requiring internet service providers to filter illegal online gambling sites would add $13.5 million in government revenue in 2016-2017 and $27 million a year after that.

In Alberta, the government keeps 20% of net iGaming revenue and registered operators receive 80%.

What opening an online market does to First Nations shares

Whether a First Nations share covers online play depends on the base it is measured against: British Columbia’s 7% of BCLC net income includes BCLC’s online business. CBC reported in April 2026 that Ontario’s 1.7% share did not at first cover online gambling and was extended to it in fiscal 2024-25, the regulated market’s second year. In 2024-25 iGaming Ontario expensed $41.45 million as revenue share to the First Nations partnership.

Alberta’s regulated iGaming market, created under the iGaming Alberta Act, opened on July 13, 2026, Canadian Gaming Business reported. The Government of Alberta’s iGaming strategy allocates 3% of gross gaming revenue — 2% for First Nations initiatives and 1% for social responsibility programs — before the remaining net iGaming revenue is split, 80% to operators and 20% to the province. Take $100 of gross gaming revenue: $2 goes to First Nations funding and $1 to social responsibility programs, and the province’s 20% applies to the remaining $97, or $19.40. Service Alberta minister Dale Nally told CBC in April 2026 that the province would not consider raising the percentage if First Nations found it too little, saying “the black market … is alive and well.”