Can an online casino legally operate in Ontario without a direct agreement with iGaming Ontario?

Picture a well-known offshore casino brand deciding to target Toronto players without ever formally dealing with iGaming Ontario — just obtaining an AGCO registration and calling it a day. That scenario is not legal. Here's why the Operating Agreement is every bit as mandatory as the registration itself.

Two gates, not one

Internet gaming operators who want to join Ontario's igaming market must take steps with both iGaming Ontario (iGO) and the AGCO before being allowed to provide their products and services to players in Ontario. These are parallel obligations, not alternatives. Being a fully registered and authorized operator in the igaming market means the organization has successfully received a registration by the AGCO and — with the exception of OLG.ca — has executed an Operating Agreement with iGO.

The AGCO handles the regulatory side: fitness checks, technical standards, compliance monitoring. iGaming Ontario, for its part, conducts and manages internet gaming offerings through private operators in accordance with the Criminal Code and the Gaming Control Act, and develops, executes, and oversees Operating Agreements with those private operators. Each body has a distinct and non-substitutable role.

Why the Operating Agreement specifically matters

The final step before entering the regulated market is executing the Operating Agreement with iGO, at which point the operator is invited to sign and coordinate activities related to market entrance. Without it, the operator is not authorized to offer games to Ontario players — full stop. Operators should expect a minimum of 90 days to complete the steps required to become registered by the AGCO and execute an Operating Agreement with iGO.

The Operating Agreement is also the mechanism through which operators take on obligations that go well beyond basic registration. Organizations that complete both steps will have met rigorous standards of game integrity, fairness, player protections, and social responsibility — their sites will have controls preventing underage access and measures to enable responsible gambling, and they will have entered legal agreements ensuring compliance with applicable laws, including anti-money laundering.

One concrete example of a contractual obligation that flows from the Operating Agreement: iGaming Ontario requires operators to obtain the Responsible Gambling Council's RG Check accreditation within the first two years of the date of the Operating Agreement and maintain that accreditation for the remainder of their Operating Agreement term. That kind of condition simply cannot be imposed on a site that has no agreement in place.

The OLG.ca carve-out

The one narrow exception is OLG.ca. OLG.ca is operated legally under the conduct and management of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation — a Crown entity that operates under a different legal framework entirely, not a private operator seeking authorization through iGO. Every other site you'll encounter in the Ontario market is a private operator that has signed an Operating Agreement.

How Toronto players can verify this

The simplest check is the iGaming Ontario operator directory, which lists every site that has cleared both hurdles. Regulated sites also display both the iGaming Ontario logo and the BetGuard logo — per iGaming Ontario, seeing those logos signals the site is managed by iGO and regulated by the AGCO. All igaming operators in Ontario participate in BetGuard, a tool that allows people to opt out of all regulated online gambling in Ontario. A site missing either logo, or absent from the official directory, has not completed the full authorization process and is not a legal option for Ontario players.

If you ever have doubts about a site's status, the live registry at igamingontario.ca is the definitive source — operator counts shift as new sites enter and others exit, so any static number you read elsewhere may already be stale. And if gambling is ever causing stress rather than entertainment, ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600) is available around the clock. Ontario's legal gambling age is 19+.