What kind of records should I keep about my online gambling activity in case a tax question ever comes up?

Picture this: you've had a solid run on a regulated Ontario online casino, withdrawn a few thousand dollars, and a year later your bank flags the deposits during a mortgage application. Or CRA simply asks where the money came from. What do you say — and what can you actually show them?

The good news first. Lottery winnings are explicitly listed among amounts that are not taxable in Canada, and the CRA's own guidance treats recreational gambling winnings similarly — as windfalls rather than income. Lottery and certain other winnings are non-taxable in Canada; however, if the taxpayer is in the business of gambling, the proceeds and losses are considered for income tax purposes. So the first question is always: are you a casual player, or are you gambling in a sufficiently systematic, professional way that CRA might view it as a business? For the vast majority of Toronto players spinning slots or playing blackjack on a registered iGaming Ontario site on evenings and weekends, the answer is clearly casual — and the winnings stay non-taxable.

But "non-taxable" doesn't mean "undocumentable." If a question ever arises — from CRA, a lender, or anyone else — you need to be able to show where the money came from. Online betting and gambling require the use of a credit card or e-commerce account where wagers are withdrawn and winnings are deposited, which means the paper trail largely builds itself. Here's how to make sure you can actually use it:

The records worth keeping

• Transaction history from the operator. Every registered Ontario operator maintains an account history showing deposits, wagers, wins, losses, and withdrawals. Download or screenshot this periodically — monthly is sensible, or at minimum after any significant session. Most platforms let you export a full statement.
• Bank and payment statements. Your bank or e-wallet records will show the deposits going in and the withdrawals coming back out. Keep these alongside your operator statements so the two can be matched. Online gambling requires use of a credit card or e-commerce account; payments to or from that account are ordinarily by credit card but may also be by money order. Whatever method you use, retain those records.
• A simple running log. A spreadsheet with date, platform, starting balance, net result, and ending balance takes five minutes a month and gives you a clean narrative that raw transaction data alone doesn't always provide. If you ever need to explain a pattern of deposits, this is what turns raw numbers into a coherent story.
• Screenshots of your account at the operator. Account dashboards often show lifetime deposit and withdrawal totals. A periodic screenshot costs nothing and can be surprisingly useful.
• Proof the site was regulated. This sounds unusual, but worth knowing: legitimate registered Ontario operators display the iGaming Ontario logo and the BetGuard logo on their sites. A screenshot of the site's footer confirming those logos is a quick way to establish you were playing on a properly regulated platform — not an offshore site operating in a grey area.

If gambling ever did become a business question

Factors indicating that a particular receipt is a windfall — and therefore non-taxable — include that the taxpayer made no organized effort to receive the payment, had no customary or specific expectation to receive it, and the payment was not earned as a result of any activity or pursuit of gain carried on by the taxpayer. If your play is recreational, those factors work in your favour. But if you were ever playing at high volume, with a systematic approach, and generating consistent net income, CRA could take a different view. The court has stated that gambling with a view to profit is an intention "shared by all who gamble," and the presence of that intention alone does not lead to a conclusion that all who gamble are carrying on a business. Frequency and systematization matter more than intent. If you're in that grey zone, the records above become even more important — and you'd want to speak to a tax professional, not rely on a gambling guide.

One practical note: the CRA's standard record-retention expectation for business records is six years, and while recreational gambling records have no mandated retention period, keeping your statements for six years is a reasonable benchmark — it aligns with how long CRA can generally reassess a return.

All of the above assumes you're playing on a site registered with iGaming Ontario. If you're not sure whether your platform is legitimate, the official iGaming Ontario registry is the live source of truth — check it before you play. And of course, gambling is meant to stay in the entertainment column of your budget; if it ever starts feeling like something else, ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600) is there. Ontario's legal gambling age is 19+.