The Canadian province of Alberta has followed Ontario's lead to become the second jurisdiction in the nation to roll out regulated online gambling, opening its doors to both sports betting and online casino operators. 

The province's inaugural crop of licensed online operators flipped the switch on Monday, 13 July, with plenty of familiar faces primed for day one.  

Bet365 cemented its arrival by striking a partnership with the Canadian Football League, lining up alongside the likes of DraftKings, Entain and Super Group.  

All told, 47 operators have filed for Alberta licences and 25 debuted in the opening week, the roster drawn chiefly from a blend of established European and US brands.  

This cross-pollination can be traced back to Ontario, which from 2022 through to this week stood as the sole Canadian province with a regulated online gambling market.  

When it launched, Ontario's rulebook was hailed as sensible and deriving much from the many European nations that have re-regulated their online sectors over the past decade. 

Alberta may not match Ontario for population size, but it still promises to be a productive online market. 

This is driving demand for Canadian expertise across all areas of online gambling operations and marketing, in particular among those who are hopeful of a domino effect that sees other provinces liberalising their online markets. 

Ontario and now Alberta also provide a great opportunity for operators to develop and incubate online casino talent, while the US continues to make slow progress in opening up this sector. 

For US-leaning operators squeezed by prediction markets and starved of fresh American states legalising online casino — just five currently allow iGaming, with little prospect of more any time soon — Alberta offers a scarce opening to push iCasino products into a market brimming with potential. 

Making a mark 

Alberta has lifted heavily from Ontario's regulatory blueprint, yet starts the race with extra responsible gambling safeguards bolted on.  

Among them are tighter advertising rules, permitting sports stars to feature only in ads that promote responsible gambling tools.  

Alberta is also kicking off with a province-wide self-exclusion system already in place, something Ontario only adopted years after going live. 

Boasting roughly five million residents, Alberta is comparable in scale to European countries such as Finland or Denmark.  

Though three times smaller than Ontario, its abundant natural resources and low-tax standing place it high on the GDP rankings.  

Add in a well-established taste for gambling and the mix has the industry buzzing.  

Analysts forecast the Albertan market could hit CA$967m ($683m) in revenue during its first full year and may surpass CA$1.7bn ($1.2bn) as early as 2029.  

Bearing in mind that this is closing in on the CA$2.4bn ($1.7bn) GGR Ontario posted in its second full year, in spite of the eastern province's far larger population, it is clear why operators are rushing to get into Alberta. 

In the short term, the key areas of hiring demand in Alberta will be on the marketing side. Right now, operators are in a battle to win the attention of a group of customers with 25+ new options at their fingertips. 

Although some brand names will be familiar from the former grey market or previous nationwide advertising, which was only officially targeted at Ontario residents, competition is still expected to be fierce. 

Talented marketing leaders, particularly those with knowledge of Canadian culture, are currently in high demand. 

Compliance staff with knowledge of marketing are also in short supply right now and with good reason.  

As mentioned, Alberta’s regs have some much tighter advertising controls than Ontario boasted at launch and there’s a particular sensitivity around the role that the nation’s top sports stars are playing in their involvement with promoting gambling. 

Future gazing 

The sector is also wagering that, should Alberta deliver as strongly as many anticipate, it will ratchet up pressure on Canada's remaining eight provinces and three territories.  

Hefty revenue figures in Alberta would demonstrate that the "Ontario model" can be transplanted right across Canada.  

There are particular hopes that British Columbia and Québec will follow suit once provincial leaders clock the tax receipts and the economic redress for indigenous First Nations peoples that a regulated online gambling market can dependably produce. 

With almost 50% of Canada’s population still without access to a fully fledged online gambling market, there is a demand for talented regulatory affairs hires, who can make the case that successful launches in Alberta and Ontario should provide a blueprint for the rest of the country to emulate. 

Despite well deserved optimism about the launch of the Alberta market, there is reason for the gambling industry to prepare a strong defence. 

Ontario showed that the inevitable path of regulation is towards tighter and tighter rules.  

Concerns around advertising in particular are already beginning to percolate in Alberta, so the industry will need representatives who can make its case persuasively.