How It All Started
Canada’s gambling history began 50 years ago when lawmakers made gambling in the state legal. After the legalization, Canada opened some of the biggest and popular casinos that have attracted millions of people from all over the world over the years. However, online casinos made a dramatic change when they appeared. The Internet has truly made a big difference in the way we spend our free time and entertain ourselves. Right now, the vast majority of Canadians choose a licensed PlayAmo online casino with an impressive collection of more than 3,000 games from more than 60 providers.
Offline casinos in Canada also remain pretty popular with players from around the world. The casinos in Canada have come a long way to become legal. The first legal document that regulated gambling in the country was the Criminal Code which banned all gambling in the entire country. Thus gambling remained illegal up until 50 years ago, when the lawmakers finally legalized wagering.
Canadian lawmakers felt pressure from the people who supported gambling legalization. The majority of Canadians pushed for permitting gambling, and the lawmakers had no choice but to change the provisions of the Criminal Code. In 1970 Canadian lawmakers permitted lotteries and wagering in the country. This gave the gambling fans the power to spread gambling all over the country. Gambling became very popular with many people as well as tourists who were visiting Canada to play their favorite games.
After the Criminal Code was amended, offline casinos did not have a lot of competition, and things were pretty stable, and every Canadian who wanted to gamble could find something they liked. However, it did not last long, and the dramatic change happened in the 90s when the Internet technologies gave rise to the first online casinos.
The Start of Online Casino Era in Canada
When the first online casinos appeared, they did not have that many games to play. They were not very popular in the very beginning as not many people had Internet at that time. Online casinos mostly had just poker and blackjack. Since not many people had computers with Internet access and online casinos could not offer as many games as offline casinos could, offline casinos were far more popular than online.
But now things have changed dramatically, and online casinos attract far more people than offline since it is more convenient and you do not need to spend time traveling. More and more young people opt for playing in online casinos. However, offline casinos still attract millions of visitors from all around the world.
Also, even after the Criminal Code was amended, Canada did not have enough regulations to reveal the full potential of the online industry. Thus Canada did not really regulate the business of online casinos. And not only Canada but any other country in the world could not control the activity of online casinos in the 90s, and this became a huge problem.
Now Canada is still developing regulations for online casinos and is about to introduce single-event betting. Online casinos have become an inalienable part of Canada’s life and offer a real casino experience for their bettors. Online wagering is more popular than ever, and Canada is expected to adopt laws that would be acceptable for both — the bettors and the casinos.