Online in Ontario
Playing online from Thunder Bay
Online play in Ontario has its own rules, and an official directory lists the sites that are legal. This page sets out those rules and explains how the Ad links on this guide's home page work.
Hosted by Ellie Marchand, a character created for this guideChecked October 14, 2026
Who runs the games, who regulates them
Ontario opened its regulated online gambling market on April 4, 2022. Two bodies divide the work. iGaming Ontario conducts and manages the games of private operators, and the AGCO regulates them. So what makes a private online casino legal here? It needs both AGCO registration and an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario.
A site with only one of the two does not meet that test. Then there is the province's own option. OLG.ca is the government-run online casino. For someone in Thunder Bay, the legal choices online come down to OLG.ca and private operators that hold both.
Inside Ontario, and nowhere else
Ontario allows online play for people 19 and over, and only while they are physically in the province. For drivers coming in from Manitoba or Minnesota, that makes the border the line that counts. The official list of legal sites is the iGaming Ontario directory at igamingontario.ca.
BetGuard, at betguard.ca, is run by iGaming Ontario. It lets anyone 19 or older opt out of every regulated Ontario online gambling site in one step, OLG.ca included. It does not cover casinos a person walks into; those fall under My PlayBreak, OLG's self-exclusion program. A casino break of 3 or 6 months, or 1 to 5 years, bars entry to every Ontario casino and must run its full term. Enrolment is by calling the OLG Support Centre at 1-800-387-0098 or by asking staff at a casino.
About the Ad links
Paid links appear only on this guide's home page, and each one is marked Ad. There are three: one in the header, one under the first screen and one near the end. Each opens a private online casino partner that the guide does not name, and the partner can change. The guide earns a commission from those links.
Does the commission mean the guide stands behind the partner? It does not, so any online casino should be looked up in the official Ontario directory of regulated sites first. Links to the venue, the province and the help lines on this site are never paid.
Asked before setting out
Where can a reader find Ontario's official list of legal online casinos?
The iGaming Ontario directory at igamingontario.ca is the official list of regulated online gambling sites.
Does online play end at the Manitoba border?
Yes, because Ontario allows online play only while the player is physically in the province, and only at 19 and over. Once the car crosses into Manitoba, play on Ontario sites stops until the player is back on the Ontario side.
Which program covers casinos, and which covers online sites?
My PlayBreak, OLG's self-exclusion program, covers casinos and bars entry to every Ontario casino for the full term chosen. BetGuard, at betguard.ca, covers online sites: it opts a person 19 or older out of every regulated Ontario online gambling site, OLG.ca included. It does not reach casinos a person walks into.