Is online gambling legal in Quebec?

The short version

Gambling in Canada is governed by the federal Criminal Code, which allows provinces to conduct and manage gambling within their borders. In Quebec, that job belongs to Loto-Québec. Its online platform is the only online casino authorised by the province.

Many private casinos and sportsbooks also accept players from Quebec. They are licensed somewhere else: by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, or offshore in places such as Curaçao, Anjouan or Malta. None of them is authorised by Quebec.

This guide explains how those pieces fit together. It describes the framework; it is not legal advice. If you need a firm answer for your own situation, ask a Quebec lawyer.

What the Criminal Code says

Part VII of the Criminal Code makes most gaming and betting an offence unless an exception applies. The key exception is section 207. Under paragraph 207(1)(a), it is lawful for the government of a province, alone or with another province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province under the province's own laws.

"Lottery scheme" is defined broadly enough to cover casino games, and subsection 207(4) makes clear that schemes operated on or through a computer or video device are reserved for provinces rather than for charities, fairs or licensees. In practice, this is why online casinos in Canada are either run by a province or authorised through a provincial system, as Ontario does through iGaming Ontario. That is also why the video lottery terminals in Quebec bars are run by Loto-Québec, not by the bars.

Loto-Québec's role

Quebec gave this role to the Société des loteries du Québec, known as Loto-Québec. Section 16 of the Act respecting the Société des loteries du Québec says its function is to conduct and administer lottery schemes, and the Act defines a lottery scheme to include games of chance and games of mixed chance and skill.

Loto-Québec runs the province's land-based casinos and its online platform, which offers lotteries, slots, table games and live casino. To play there, according to its own responsible play page: For how the platform works in practice, see our Espacejeux guide.

• You must be 18 or older.
• You must live in Quebec.
• You must be physically in Quebec when you log in.

For the land-based side, our visitor guides to the Casino de Montréal and the Casino du Lac-Leamy cover opening hours, ID rules and transit.

Private sites that accept Quebec players

Search for an online casino from Montreal and most of what you find is not Loto-Québec. These private sites fall into two groups.

Kahnawake-licensed sites. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission licenses and regulates gaming in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, on Montreal's South Shore. It issues authorisations to online operators and publishes a permit list. BET99, Jackpot City and TonyBet's international site are examples that list Kahnawake authorisations. The Commission takes player complaints and says protecting players is its primary function. Its authority comes from Kahnawake, not from the Government of Quebec.

Offshore-licensed sites. Many crypto casinos are licensed in Curaçao, Anjouan or similar jurisdictions. Their terms usually say that players are responsible for checking whether online gambling is legal where they live.

Neither group is part of Loto-Québec's offer. That does not stop the sites from accepting Quebec players, and many of them build their Canadian offer around Interac, CAD balances and French-language pages.

What this means for players

A few practical consequences follow from that structure.

• Protections differ. On Loto-Québec's platform, Quebec rules apply, and its tools for limits, pauses and self-exclusion are built in. On a private site, the protections are whatever the casino and its licensing body provide.
• Disputes go elsewhere. If something goes wrong on a Kahnawake site, you complain to the casino first and then to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. On an offshore site, you go to that jurisdiction's regulator, which may be slow or hard to reach.
• Terms carry more weight. Private sites can limit withdrawals, cap bonus winnings, charge dormancy fees and confiscate funds for breaches. Read the terms before you deposit.
• Self-exclusion does not travel. Excluding yourself at Loto-Québec does not block private sites, and excluding at one private site does not block the others.

Age rules

The legal gambling age in Quebec is 18, and Loto-Québec applies 18. Private sites set their own minimum. Many use 18, while some, BET99 among them, require 19 everywhere in Canada.

Ontario and Alberta are different

Ontario runs a regulated private market through iGaming Ontario, which publishes a list of approved operators and sites. Brands such as BET99, bet365, TonyBet and Jackpot City run separate Ontario sites that appear on that list, and those Ontario sites are for players physically in Ontario. Alberta has also moved to its own regulated online market.

If you live in Quebec, an Ontario site is not your site; its geolocation checks are built to keep players outside Ontario out. If you live in Ontario or Alberta, a site that is not registered in your province is not licensed for you. Our province-by-province page lists the rules and local helplines for each.

VPNs and location checks

Some private sites use geolocation services such as GeoComply. Almost all of them ban VPNs or allow winnings to be voided if you hide your location. Using a VPN to reach a site from a place it excludes is a breach of its terms and puts your balance at risk. Quebec players rarely have a reason to use one, since most private sites already accept the province.

Common misunderstandings

"The site is in French, so it must be licensed in Quebec." Language says nothing about licensing. Several Kahnawake and offshore sites have full French-Canadian versions. The licence is in the terms and on the regulator's list.

"Kahnawake is in Quebec, so a Kahnawake licence is a Quebec licence." The Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake sits on Montreal's South Shore, and the Commission's mailing address is in Quebec, but its authority comes from Kahnawake. Loto-Québec's online platform remains the only online casino authorised by the province.

"A .ca address means the site is regulated in Canada." Domain names are not licences. Some .ca sites are Ontario-only regulated sites; others are not regulated in Canada at all.

"If the site accepts me, it must be allowed." A casino accepting your registration means its own terms do not exclude you. It is not a statement by Quebec that the site is authorised.

"The footer seal proves the licence." Seals can be copied. Look the licence number up on the regulator's own website, such as the Kahnawake permit list or the iGaming Ontario operator list.

"Winnings from an offshore site are illegal income." Tax and gambling law are separate questions. Our tax guide covers how the CRA treats winnings.

Taxes

Recreational gambling winnings are generally not taxed in Canada. See our guide on whether gambling winnings are taxed in Quebec.

How to choose, if you play

If you decide to play at a private site from Quebec, the following checks cut most of the risk:

1. Find the licence number in the terms and look it up on the regulator's own list.
2. Read what the terms say about Canada and Quebec, and the minimum age.
3. Check withdrawal limits, KYC rules and any cap on winnings.
4. Look for French support if you need it.
5. Set deposit limits on day one.

Our reviews do these checks for every site we cover, from the casino's own terms.

Getting help

Jeu: aide et référence offers free, confidential help 24 hours a day at 1 800 461-0140, or 514 527-0140 in the Montreal area. Our guide to Jeu : aide et référence explains what happens when you call.

Sources

• https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-207.html
• https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/
• https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/S-13.1
• https://espacejeux.com/fr/evenements/jouez-sans-depasser
• https://gamingcommission.ca/
• https://gamingcommission.ca/permit-holders/
• https://igamingontario.ca/en/player/regulated-market
• https://aidejeu.ca/