🇨🇦Ontario Gambling Licence: Requirements, Costs and Tax

• AGCO registration fee: CAD 100,000 per gaming site per year, payable with the application, with a one- or two-year term option. Each brand or skin registered as a separate gaming site pays its own fee.
• Investigation costs: the AGCO may charge the reasonable costs of additional investigation, and recovers its overall igaming regulatory costs from operators through iGO.
• iGO revenue share: under the operating agreement the operator receives roughly 80 per cent of gaming revenue and iGO retains the rest. In 2024-25 iGO’s net gaming revenue was CAD 574 million on CAD 2.9 billion of total gaming revenue.
• Audit: an independently audited Control Activity Matrix (CAM) is due before launch for higher-risk applicants or within three months of launch otherwise.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): AGCO internet gaming operator application guide (fees) · iGaming Ontario annual report 2024-25

Ontario has no gaming tax as such. Because the province conducts and manages the games under the Criminal Code, the operator acts as iGO’s agent and iGO keeps a share of gaming revenue under the operating agreement instead. In 2024-25 that share was CAD 574 million of CAD 2.9 billion (about 20 per cent), and iGO pays a dividend to the province from it. Operators with a permanent establishment in Ontario also pay corporate income tax: 15 per cent federal plus 11.5 per cent Ontario general rate.

Live dealer studios and B2B suppliers. Gaming-related suppliers register with the AGCO and follow the Registrar’s Standards that apply to them. The revenue share is paid by the operator, while a studio or platform provider pays only its registration fee and any AGCO cost recovery passed through contractually.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): iGaming Ontario annual report 2024-25 · Canada Revenue Agency: corporation tax rates · Ontario corporate income tax

Neither the AGCO nor iGO publishes a target time. In practice the AGCO eligibility review runs in parallel with iGO onboarding and the technical go-live checks (regulatory reporting set-up, secure data channels, proof that the technology meets AGCO standards). After launch the operator must demonstrate its controls within six months and file the audited CAM within three months (or before launch if assessed as higher risk). The market launched on 4 April 2022 with 12 operators and had 50 by March 2025, so new entrants are onboarded incrementally rather than in windows.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): AGCO igaming standards FAQs (CAM and competency demonstration) · iGaming Ontario annual report 2024-25

Ontario runs a two-body model. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) registers operators and gaming-related suppliers and enforces the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming. iGaming Ontario (iGO), a standalone Crown agency since 12 May 2025, conducts and manages the games and signs the commercial operating agreement with each operator. Both steps are needed before launch.

• AGCO registration through the iAGCO portal: operator application, personal disclosure forms for the people named, an entity disclosure form, tax returns and assessments, a criminal background check for non-Canadian residents, a list of suppliers, a gaming site diagram and a gap analysis against the Registrar’s Standards showing which Standards the applicant already meets and how it will close every gap.
• Suppliers: platform providers, game studios and other gaming-related suppliers must hold their own AGCO registration, and operators may only contract registered suppliers.
• No unregulated play: since October 2022 an applicant must cease any activity in Ontario that would require registration and may not deal with unregistered suppliers (Standard 1.22).
• iGO operating agreement: covers AML, player registration, permitted games, responsible gambling, dispute resolution, financial reconciliation and data.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): AGCO: apply for an igaming operator registration · AGCO internet gaming operator application guide · AGCO Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming

• Registrar’s Standards: outcome-based standards on game integrity, player protection, responsible gambling, AML, advertising and data. The operator remains accountable for standards met through suppliers.
• Notifications and reporting: the internet gaming notification matrix sets what must be reported to the AGCO and when, through iAGCO and the secure data channels.
• Testing: games and systems are certified by AGCO-registered independent testing labs, and independent integrity monitors cover betting integrity.
• Advertising: the AGCO’s advertising and inducement standards restrict public promotion of bonuses and marketing likely to appeal to minors.
• Centralised systems: iGO is building a centralised self-exclusion system and AML tooling for the market, and operators will be required to integrate when they launch.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): AGCO Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming · AGCO igaming standards FAQs · iGaming Ontario 2026-2029 business plan

Ontario registers the operating company wherever it is incorporated: most of the 50 operators are international groups registered with the AGCO through their existing entities. What is mandatory is the AGCO registration, registered suppliers and the iGO operating agreement, not a local company. Operators that do set up in Ontario incorporate provincially or federally in a day.

• Corporate income tax: 15 per cent federal net rate plus the 11.5 per cent Ontario general rate (26.5 per cent combined) on income allocated to an Ontario permanent establishment.
• Cost stack: CAD 100,000 per site per year to the AGCO, roughly 20 per cent of gaming revenue retained by iGO, AGCO cost recovery, independent testing and the audited CAM.

Sources (checked 20 September 2026): Canada Revenue Agency: corporation tax rates · Ontario corporate income tax · iGaming Ontario Act, 2024

• 12 May 2025 — The iGaming Ontario Act, 2024 came into force, making iGO a standalone Crown agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming rather than an AGCO subsidiary.
• 2024-25 — 50 active operators, CAD 82.7 billion wagered and CAD 2.9 billion of gaming revenue, up 32 per cent on the year.