Ontario igaming market records CA$9.5 billion in wagers for June

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The Backstory

Ontario’s June numbers extend a record-setting run

Ontario’s latest iGaming results land in a market that has spent much of the past year resetting its own benchmarks. The province’s CA$9.5 billion in June wagers and CA$400.6 million in non-adjusted gross gaming revenue were not isolated gains. They followed a period in which monthly handle has repeatedly hovered near or above CA$9 billion, showing that the regulated market has moved beyond early launch growth and into a more mature phase of sustained volume.

The clearest through line is online casino. Casino games have carried Ontario’s regulated market since launch and have become even more central as the sector scales. June’s 88% share of total wagers was consistent with the pattern seen in prior months, when casino activity drove most of the market’s growth even as sports betting fluctuated with the calendar. That concentration matters because it shapes operator strategy, customer acquisition and the revenue mix available to the province.

The June report also shows the value of more frequent disclosure. iGaming Ontario shifted from quarterly to monthly market reporting earlier this year, giving operators, policymakers and competitors a clearer view of seasonality and product trends. The agency’s monthly market performance report now offers a more granular view of wagers, revenue and active accounts across casino, betting and peer-to-peer poker.

May set the immediate benchmark for casino growth

June followed a May in which the province’s online casino segment set records for both handle and revenue. In Ontario’s record May iCasino performance, casino wagers reached CA$8.37 billion, topping the prior high set in March, while casino revenue rose to CA$326.4 million. That made May a difficult comparison point for June, when total market revenue dipped from CA$413.1 million even though overall wagering remained broadly stable.

The May results underscored the market’s underlying direction: casino growth is more durable than sports betting growth in Ontario’s online sector. Sports betting handle fell 7% month over month in May to CA$972 million, while casino handle increased. Poker remained small, at roughly 1% of revenue, and continued to show signs of year-over-year pressure.

June’s data reinforced that pattern. Sports betting posted a strong annual gain, but casino activity still accounted for nearly nine out of every 10 dollars wagered. The result is a market where overall performance is increasingly tied to casino engagement, including slots, live dealer games and table games, rather than the sports calendar alone.

Monthly reporting made the growth curve easier to see

The move to monthly reporting was itself a significant development. When iGaming Ontario switched to monthly performance reports, it also released data showing CA$22.7 billion in wagers for the third quarter of fiscal 2024-25, up 22% from the previous quarter. Revenue for that quarter reached CA$825.8 million, a 10% sequential increase.

Those figures showed a market growing across both wagering and revenue, but the monthly format has made it easier to distinguish sustained growth from one-off spikes. It has also highlighted the uneven performance of product categories. In the third-quarter data, casino represented 83% of total wagers and 78% of revenue. Betting accounted for 15% of wagers and 20% of revenue, while poker remained below 2% on both measures.

That framework helps explain the June result. A modest monthly decline in revenue does not necessarily signal weakening demand when handle remains near record levels and active accounts rise. Instead, it can reflect product mix, payout rates and customer behavior in a market with heavy casino volume and a large active base. For regulators and operators, the distinction is important: revenue volatility can occur even when customer participation remains strong.

The reporting shift also coincided with a governance change. iGaming Ontario’s status was being moved away from its previous structure as a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, with legislation set to make it an independent agency. That separation is intended to further distinguish market conduct, regulatory oversight and commercial management as the province’s online gambling sector expands.

Earlier records showed scale was building before summer

The June report fits into a longer sequence of high-water marks that began before the summer period. In October, Ontario’s online gambling sector surpassed CA$9.2 billion in wagers, at the time its strongest month since launch. Active player accounts climbed close to 1.3 million, and revenue reached CA$367.7 million, setting a new high.

That October performance was followed by an even stronger winter. In December, Ontario reported record monthly revenue of CA$425.4 million, with total cash wagers at CA$9.5 billion. Casino revenue reached CA$320.5 million, while online betting revenue rose sharply from the prior year. The month showed that Ontario could generate both high handle and high revenue at the same time, particularly when casino activity and betting results aligned.

January then continued the momentum. iGaming Ontario reported CA$9.5 billion in January wagers, the highest total since the market went live in 2022, with revenue up 22% year over year to CA$402 million. Casino again dominated, generating CA$8.2 billion in wagers and CA$309 million in revenue.

Taken together, those months established the range in which Ontario now operates. The province is no longer testing whether a competitive regulated market can reach multibillion-dollar monthly handle. The more relevant question is how much additional growth remains available as customer accounts, operator numbers and product adoption approach a more developed stage.

Casino dominance raises strategic and policy questions

Ontario’s market structure has clear commercial implications. Operators seeking share in the province need casino depth, product differentiation and retention tools, not just sportsbook promotions. Sports betting remains valuable, especially because it brings brand visibility and event-driven engagement, but it has not displaced casino as the main revenue engine.

That creates a different set of policy considerations. Casino games typically generate high-frequency engagement, making responsible gambling controls and player monitoring central to the market’s long-term legitimacy. Ontario’s regulated model was designed to channel activity away from unregulated sites, but growth at this scale places pressure on regulators and operators to show that consumer protection keeps pace with revenue expansion.

Poker presents a separate challenge. The category has remained small and, in several recent reports, has declined on a year-over-year basis. A Court of Appeal for Ontario ruling allowing residents to play peer-to-peer games with people outside Canada could eventually improve liquidity for online poker and daily fantasy sports, but the data so far show poker remains peripheral to Ontario’s market economics.

The number of operators is another variable. Ontario has generally had around 45 to 50 licensed operators active in recent reporting periods, creating one of North America’s more competitive regulated online gambling markets. A broad operator base can benefit consumers through choice and innovation, but it also intensifies marketing competition and may pressure margins as companies compete for the same active accounts.

Ontario’s model is now a national reference point

Ontario’s performance carries significance beyond the province. Since launching in April 2022, it has been Canada’s first competitive regulated iGaming market, offering a framework other provinces can study as they consider alternatives to lottery-led models or unregulated offshore activity. The scale of its monthly figures gives policymakers evidence that a regulated open market can capture substantial demand.

Alberta is the next major test. Provincial officials have signaled plans to build a regulated iGaming market while making clear they do not intend to copy Ontario exactly. The comparison is unavoidable: Ontario has shown the revenue potential, but Alberta will have to decide how to balance market access, consumer safeguards, Indigenous and lottery interests, tax design and regulatory independence.

For Ontario, June’s results show a market maintaining high volume even after several record months. The pace of year-over-year growth remains strong, but month-to-month revenue softness after May’s record casino results also points to a maturing sector. Future reports will be watched for whether active accounts continue to expand, whether casino’s share grows further and whether sports betting can deliver more consistent revenue.

The stakes are increasingly strategic. Ontario is now a benchmark for operators allocating investment across North America, for provinces weighing regulation and for policymakers assessing whether competitive iGaming can deliver public revenue while protecting consumers. June did not reset every record, but it confirmed that Ontario’s regulated market is operating at a scale few Canadian jurisdictions can ignore.