Ontario iGaming Hits CA$8.55B Wagering Record in September

⏱ 3 min read

Ontario's regulated iGaming market posted its second consecutive all-time wagering record in September, with players staking a combined CA$8.55 billion — a 5% jump over August's prior record of CA$8.14 billion and a 30.7% increase year-over-year. The milestone cements Ontario as Canada's dominant regulated gambling jurisdiction just as a second province, Alberta, begins building out its own open market.

Active player accounts hit an all-time monthly high of 1.2 million — up 36% from September 2024 — while gross gaming revenue reached CA$329 million, marking the sixth straight month the province has cleared the CA$300 million revenue threshold. Growth is now clearly volume-driven: average revenue per active account fell to CA$282, its lowest monthly reading since February, down from CA$330 in August.

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Wagering Breakdown by Vertical

Casino gaming overwhelmingly dominates Ontario's handle. In September it drew CA$7.34 billion in wagers — 86% of the province's total — and recorded its second consecutive month above the CA$7 billion mark. Sports betting surged to CA$1.06 billion, a 39% month-over-month increase and the first time since April that the vertical crossed the CA$1 billion line. Analysts attributed part of the sports betting lift to the opening of the NFL season and elevated interest in the Toronto Blue Jays playoff push. Peer-to-peer poker contributed CA$144 million, slipping 4% from August.

• Casino: CA$7.34 billion in wagers (second consecutive month above CA$7B)
• Sports betting: CA$1.06 billion in wagers (+39% MoM, first time above CA$1B since April)
• Peer-to-peer poker: CA$144 million in wagers (−4% MoM)

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The Revenue Picture

Gross gaming revenue of CA$329 million came in 1.8% below August's peak but was 18.8% ahead of the same month in 2024. Casino accounted for CA$277.8 million — 84.4% of the total. Sports betting contributed CA$46.5 million, while poker added CA$5.1 million. The divergence between the sports betting wager surge (+39% MoM) and its revenue result reflects bettor-friendly outcomes in early NFL fixtures and heightened parlay activity on Canadian teams.

For context, iGaming Ontario's 2024–25 annual report recorded CA$82.7 billion in total wagers and CA$2.9 billion in gaming revenue across the full fiscal year — a 32% and 31% increase respectively over 2023–24. September's single-month handle now equals roughly 10% of that full-year total, illustrating how steeply the run rate has climbed.

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Player Trends and Market Depth

The record 1.2 million active accounts — up 15% from August and 36% year-over-year — suggests Ontario is still recruiting new players rather than merely deepening spend among existing ones. The drop in average revenue per account to CA$282 (from CA$320 a year earlier) reinforces that reading: a broader, more casual player base is inflating handle volumes while moderating per-head revenue, which reached its lowest monthly average since February.

iGaming Ontario's own data shows an 83.7% channelization rate — the share of Ontario players using licensed rather than offshore platforms. With 50 active licensed operators and more than 83 gaming websites competing for the same pool, acquisition costs are rising across the board and the margin on each new registered account continues to compress.

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National Context: Ontario vs. Alberta

Ontario remains Canada's only mature open iGaming market, but Alberta launched its own regulated market on 13 July 2026, with 22 operators going live on day one — including FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and theScore Bet. Under Bill 48 (iGaming Alberta Act), the Alberta iGaming Corporation oversees operator agreements while the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission handles licensing and compliance. Operators have until 13 October 2026 to achieve full platform compliance or exit the market — a hard deadline that will determine which brands have genuine national ambitions.

Metric	Ontario (Sept 2026)	Alberta (July 2026 Launch)
Market Status	Open since April 2022	Open since July 13, 2026
Licensed Operators	50 active operators	22 live on day one
Monthly Wagers	CA$8.55 billion (record)	Not yet published
Active Player Accounts	1.2 million (record)	Not yet reported
Regulator	AGCO / iGaming Ontario	AGLC / Alberta iGaming Corp
Key Operators	FanDuel, BetMGM, Bet365, BetRivers	FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, theScore Bet

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What It Means for Operators and Bettors

Back-to-back wagering records in a maturing market signal structural momentum rather than a seasonal blip. For operators, the data underscores that volume growth is driven by player acquisition rather than wallet-share expansion — a dynamic that rewards marketing efficiency and retention programmes over pure product differentiation. With average revenue per player at a seven-month low, brands chasing top-line handle without managing margin discipline face compressed returns even as gross wagers climb.

For bettors, an 83-plus-brand marketplace creates genuine competition on odds, bonuses, and product quality. Ontario's 83.7% channelization rate suggests most players recognise the practical benefits — consumer protections, dispute resolution, responsible gambling tools — that licensed platforms provide over offshore alternatives. The centralized self-exclusion system flagged in iGaming Ontario's 2024–25 annual report, described as the first of its kind in North America, is expected to launch during the current fiscal year and will further sharpen the regulatory distinction between licensed and grey-market operators.

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Sources

Primary and secondary sources consulted for this article, in order of citation.

September marked the sixth straight month Ontario's iGaming revenue cleared CA$300 million — a run that no other Canadian province has ever approached, and one that sets the benchmark Alberta's new open market will be measured against for years.

— iGaming Ontario, Market Performance Data · September 2026