Who runs Ontario and B.C. casinos? The crown conducts and manages, private operators run the floor

What “who runs the casino” means in Ontario and B.C.

A casino in Ontario or British Columbia is crown gaming run day to day by a private contractor. In Ontario, OLG, a provincial crown agency, conducts and manages land-based gaming sites while casino service providers assume control of day-to-day operations. In British Columbia, BCLC, a crown corporation, conducts and manages commercial gambling and, in fiscal 2025/26, offered slot machines, table games and bingo at 36 casinos through Operational Services Agreements with private-sector service providers. The name of the company on the floor identifies the operator, not the entity that conducts and manages the gaming.

The split starts in the Criminal Code. Paragraph 207(1)(a) makes it lawful for the government of a province, alone or with another province, to “conduct and manage” a lottery scheme in accordance with provincial law. That phrase is the dividing line: the crown conducts and manages, the operator runs day-to-day operations.

What conduct and manage leaves with the crown

In Ontario, OLG has Casino Operating and Services Agreements (COSAs) with land-based casino service providers, which it does not control or consolidate. OLG “continues to conduct and manage” the sites while the providers “assume control of the day-to-day operations”.

British Columbia writes the split into statute. Under s. 7(1) of B.C.’s Gaming Control Act (SBC 2022, c. 29), BCLC is, for all purposes, an agent of the government. Section 39 lets BCLC conduct, manage or operate a lottery scheme once the general manager has given written approval, while a registered gaming services provider may only operate a scheme, and only if its registration authorizes it. Section 17 requires every agreement between BCLC and a gaming services provider to have the provider deliver its services “under the control of the lottery corporation”.

Private operation is a provincial choice, not a requirement. In Manitoba, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries owns and operates two Winnipeg casinos, McPhillips Station and Club Regent, and keeps conduct and management authority over the First Nations casinos that certain First Nations operate.

Who the private operators are

OLG’s nine Ontario casino bundles as at March 31, 2026 were East, Southwest, North, Ottawa, Greater Toronto Area, West Greater Toronto Area, Central, Niagara and Windsor. Each bundle had one named service provider under a COSA with set effective and expiry dates as at March 31, 2026. On that date, MGE Niagara Entertainment Inc. held the Niagara bundle under a COSA running from June 11, 2019 to March 31, 2040, and Caesars Entertainment Windsor Limited held Windsor under a COSA running from March 3, 2026 to March 2, 2046.

In British Columbia, BCLC had operating agreements with 14 gaming facility service providers as at March 31, 2026. As at March 31, 2026, BCLC’s two largest gaming facility service providers accounted for 66% of the amount due from all providers, a measure of receivables rather than of revenue or facilities.

How the money splits between crown and operator

The crown books the gaming revenue and pays the operator out of it. Under Ontario’s COSAs, each casino service provider is paid fees made up mainly of a fixed fee and a variable fee. OLG books gaming revenue net of those fees and does not book non-gaming revenue, such as accommodations and food and beverage, earned at provider-run sites.

In fiscal 2025-26, OLG reported gaming revenue of $6,588 million and service provider fees of $2,061 million, leaving net gaming revenue of $4,527 million. Take those totals: about 31 cents of each gaming-revenue dollar went to service providers, a figure that also includes charitable gaming service providers. OLG also remits to the Province of Ontario a contribution equal to 20 per cent of gaming revenue at five sites: Caesars Windsor, Casino Rama, Casino Niagara, Fallsview Casino and the Great Blue Heron Casino.

In British Columbia, BCLC pays gaming facility service providers commissions, including commissions for facility investment, based on revenue generated under the operational services agreements. In fiscal 2024/25, BCLC earned net income of $1.408 billion on revenue of $2.803 billion and distributed $1.395 billion to the Province of British Columbia. In British Columbia, First Nations receive a 7% entitlement of BCLC net income through the BC First Nations Gaming Revenue Sharing Limited Partnership, and under the Province’s Host Financial Assistance Agreements, local governments and First Nations that host a B.C. casino or community gaming centre typically receive 10% of the net gaming income it generates.

Who carries anti-money-laundering duties at a privately run casino

The federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) follows the conduct-and-manage line, not the operating line. Paragraph 5(k) covers a provincial government that, under Criminal Code s. 207(1)(a), conducts and manages a lottery scheme that includes roulette or card games in a permanent establishment held out as a casino, or games on more than 50 slot machines or similar electronic gaming devices in any other permanent establishment.

FINTRAC’s casino guidance states the consequence directly: “The entity that is delegated this responsibility by the province or territory is then responsible for meeting the obligations of the PCMLTFA and associated Regulations for that casino. In some cases, the entity that conducts and manages a casino is not necessarily the same entity that operates the casino activities on a day-to-day basis.” The operator runs the floor; the conduct-and-manage entity carries the reporting obligations. In Ontario, operators must align their anti-money-laundering controls with those of the designated PCMLTFA reporting entity and make copies of FINTRAC reports available to the AGCO Registrar.

BCLC’s role in the B.C. casino money-laundering failure

The Cullen Commission’s 2022 final report found that between 2008 and 2018, Lower Mainland casinos accepted hundreds of millions of dollars in cash that was the proceeds of crime, as part of the “Vancouver model” of money laundering. The report found that in 2014 alone, B.C. casinos accepted nearly $1.2 billion in cash transactions of $10,000 or more, including 1,881 cash buy-ins of $100,000 or more.

The Commission also found that B.C. gaming investigators repeatedly warned their superiors, BCLC, law enforcement and the provincial government about the risk of large suspicious cash transactions in B.C. casinos, yet no meaningful action was taken on them until 2015. The Commission found that BCLC resisted the calls for action and continued to allow the transactions, and that managers in BCLC’s corporate security and compliance unit repeatedly insisted that large cash transactions could not be connected to money laundering if patrons were genuinely putting their funds at risk.

B.C.’s Gaming Control Act and casino rules after Cullen

The Gaming Control Act did not end private operation in British Columbia. Section 39(4) lets a registered gaming services provider operate a lottery scheme if its registration authorizes it, and s. 17 requires those services to be delivered under BCLC’s control. The B.C. government describes British Columbia’s Gaming Control Act as creating an independent gambling regulator that can issue directives to BCLC without the minister’s consent.

As of April 2026, B.C.’s casino rules stop short of two Cullen recommendations. Cullen recommended requiring proof of source of funds for cash and bearer-instrument transactions at $3,000, and recommended that the minister direct BCLC to implement 100 percent account-based, known play in casinos. As of April 23, 2026, BCLC requires a source-of-funds declaration for cash, bank-draft or certified-cheque buy-ins of $10,000 or more in a 24-hour period, and casinos verify identity for buy-ins of $3,000 or more in a day. As of April 2026, BCLC requires ID for casino entry and is committed to increasing account-based play in casinos.

FINTRAC’s 2025 penalty on BCLC

FINTRAC imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $1,075,000 on BCLC on July 17, 2025, for three violations. As of September 13, 2026, BCLC has appealed the decision to the Federal Court. The penalty is on BCLC, the conduct-and-manage entity, not on an operator.

Operators change hands; the conduct-and-manage entity does not

In fiscal 2025/26, several First Nations purchased or explored purchasing B.C. gaming facilities. CBC News reported on March 23, 2026 that Great Canadian Entertainment had sold eight southwest B.C. casinos to First Nations over the previous two years, including River Rock Casino in Richmond. Great Canadian announced on June 16, 2026 that the River Rock sale had closed, to a partnership of Petroglyph Development Group, a corporation of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, and Musqueam Capital Corp. CBC News reported on March 9, 2026 that the Semiahmoo First Nation had announced it will acquire Elements Casino Surrey from Great Canadian Entertainment, pending regulatory approval. In March 2026, BCLC said the sales are private business transactions between two companies that do not involve BCLC, and that it takes part in the transfer of ownership through due diligence.

A sale changes who owns the operator, not who conducts and manages the gaming. Whoever owns a B.C. gaming services provider, s. 17 puts its services under BCLC’s control, and the PCMLTFA obligations for the casino stay with the conduct-and-manage entity.