Alberta Steps Out of the Shadows: Large-Scale Launch of a Legal Online Casino Market Planned for Spring–Summer

The Canadian province of Alberta is approaching the final stage of officially legalizing online gambling. The full launch of a regulated iGaming market is scheduled for spring or summer of this year. This information was officially confirmed by Dan Keene, the acting CEO of the Alberta iGaming Corporation.

Alberta will become only the second region in Canada to introduce transparent rules for the operation of online casinos and bookmakers. The pioneer in this direction was Ontario, which opened its regulated market in 2022. The main driver behind these reforms has been troubling statistics: according to the local regulator, about 70% of all bets placed by provincial residents currently end up in the shadow sector, on websites operated by unlicensed offshore platforms.

Legalization opens enormous financial opportunities, and global industry giants are already preparing for expansion. The fight for Canadian players will involve some of the largest gambling operators in the market:

• FanDuel is taking an aggressive approach and plans to invest about $70 million (in EBITDA) for a powerful launch in the region.
• PENN Entertainment is acting more cautiously, allocating a launch budget of $15–20 million.
• Rush Street Interactive is aiming to open its services closer to the end of the second quarter.
• Market heavyweights BetMGM and DraftKings are so confident in success that they have already included revenue from Alberta in their financial forecasts for 2026.