Alberta is aiming to move online gambling from roughly 70% unregulated activity to 70% regulated play in the first year of its new competitive iGaming market. By year two, the province wants regulated play to reach 75%.
The market is due to open July 13, when multiple private-sector operators will launch under the new framework and offer sports bets and online casino games alongside AGLC’s Play Alberta.
The 70% target matches the government’s estimate that about 70% of online gambling currently happens with unregulated operators, also described as the grey or black market. Alberta and its gaming regulators want to flip that ratio by July 13, 2027.
On its website, Alberta iGaming Corp. says its goals are to keep more revenue in the province by steering play to approved operators and returning money through reinvestment. It says that after operational costs, 100% of residuals return to Alberta.
AiGC also labels 80% as the operator share and 20% as the provincial share. In addition, it says 3% of gross revenue is guaranteed for Indigenous Relations and Social Responsibility, split between 2% and 1%.
The company says those carve-outs support local First Nations priorities, economic development, cultural initiatives, responsible gaming and problem-gambling programs. That is the financial structure attached to Alberta’s new regulated market.
Dale Nally, the government’s de facto iGaming minister, has said Alberta is expecting about $76 million in fresh revenue in the first year. He has also stressed that the point of regulation is to move online gambling onto provincially regulated sites, not simply to maximize take.
The broader policy argument has been echoed by Paul Burns of the Canadian Gaming Association, who said the question is whether gambling happens in a regulated environment with strong standards, oversight and player protections. In comments to Casino.org, he pointed to Ontario as an example, saying 86% of play there is outside the black market and noting that Ontario’s open market generated more than $4 billion in revenue in 2025.
Big-name brands including BetMGM, DraftKings and FanDuel are among the operators named for Alberta’s regulated market.
