Ontario’s online gambling grows but still lags provincial rivals

The Canadian province of Ontario’s government-run online gambling site posted double-digit revenue gains in its most current fiscal year, but still lags well behind its provincial rivals.

This week, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) published its 2016-17 annual report, during which the government-owned entity generated total revenue of just under C$7.5b (US$6b). The bulk of this revenue came from lotteries (C$3.7b) and land-based casinos (C$3.6b).

OLG’s online gambling site PlayOLG.ca, which began offering online casino and lottery products in January 2015, contributed just under C$58.4m, up 18.7% over the 2015-16 figure. OLG declined to break out specific figures for how that revenue was split between lotteries and casino products.

Tighter cost controls and a 16% rise in active players allowed OLG to reap an online gambling profit of C$27.4m, a hefty 84% higher than the previous year.