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"Senate of Canada passes Bill C-218 by a vote of 57-20, which allows provinces to offer single-game sports betting.
After almost 10 years and two attempts by its proponents, single-event sports betting in Canada is about to be legal.
The Senate passed Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, on Tuesday by a vote of 57-20. It will become law when the bill gets royal assent.
Once approved, the provinces will have the authority to license and regulate sports betting, which has seen an estimated $14 billion spent annually by Canadians through offshore (grey market) or illegal gambling (black market) operators.
“There a sense of ‘finally,’” Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, said Tuesday afternoon on hearing the news that the Senate had passed Bill C-218.
“We can now get on with what we’ve wanted to do for so long.”
Until now, bettors have only been allowed to legally wager on two or more games, otherwise known as a parlay.
Proponents of legalized sports betting watched two previous efforts to amend the Criminal Code fall by the wayside — first in 2011 and again in 2015. In February 2020, however, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh reintroduced the legislation as a private member’s bill which made it to the Senate more than a year later.
After almost 10 years and two attempts by its proponents, single-event sports betting in Canada is about to be legal.
The Senate passed Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, on Tuesday by a vote of 57-20. It will become law when the bill gets royal assent.
Once approved, the provinces will have the authority to license and regulate sports betting, which has seen an estimated $14 billion spent annually by Canadians through offshore (grey market) or illegal gambling (black market) operators.
“There a sense of ‘finally,’” Paul Burns, president and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association, said Tuesday afternoon on hearing the news that the Senate had passed Bill C-218.
“We can now get on with what we’ve wanted to do for so long.”
Until now, bettors have only been allowed to legally wager on two or more games, otherwise known as a parlay.
Proponents of legalized sports betting watched two previous efforts to amend the Criminal Code fall by the wayside — first in 2011 and again in 2015. In February 2020, however, Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh reintroduced the legislation as a private member’s bill which made it to the Senate more than a year later.
