Editorial policy
How We Review Ontario Casinos
A review here tells you whether the brand is available in Ontario, which facts we can support and where important information remains unconfirmed. Every published review carries a numerical rating built from seven criteria, and the review shows the breakdown.
- Scores are independent of commerce
- Open questions stay open
- Their figures stay theirs
What a review shows
A finished review explains the supported facts, practical trade-offs and important limitations.
The score is our judgement. It is not a user average, not a copy of another website, and not a reflection of whether we have a commercial relationship with the brand. How it is built is described in the next section. If something is still open, the review says so.
Older reviews assessed under an earlier method are labelled when that history still matters. Those figures are not interchangeable with a score produced under the current method.
How a score is built
Each score is made of seven criteria on a scale of 0 to 5, shown on the review: safety and regulation (weighted 20%), withdrawals (20%), games (15%), responsible gambling (15%), payments (10%), mobile (10%) and support (10%). The overall score is our editorial rounding of that weighted result.
Two kinds of evidence feed it. The first is what our review could support from the operator’s own pages and the regulator’s register: payment methods, published processing times, game range, app availability, support channels and safer-gambling tools. The second is public feedback from outside: store ratings of the Ontario app, the pattern of praise and complaints on independent complaint and review sites, and any AGCO penalty against the operator. We use that feedback as a signal, never as an average and never copied: affiliate sites that earn commission carry little weight, a global brand page is not treated as an Ontario result, and a handful of reviews is not allowed to move a score much.
A regulator penalty lowers the safety score of the brands run by that operator, and the responsible-gambling score too when the penalty concerns player protection, for as long as it stays relevant. When there is too little evidence for a criterion, we leave that criterion out and re-weight the rest, instead of guessing. Adi, who writes the reviews, has played at regulated Ontario casinos while physically in Ontario, and that experience shapes which questions we ask. The facts and figures in a review still rest on the sources shown on the page, not on memory of a session, and a score is not a test result. Scores are reviewed when the evidence changes, and the review shows the date it was last checked.
What we assess
We look at standing, banking, withdrawals, games, live tables, mobile, support, safer-play tools and day-to-day use — only where we have enough to judge.
Ontario regulatory standing
Whether the brand is available in Ontario's regulated market, which company operates it, and whether both can be traced to a dated public source. Active standing is an eligibility gate, not a quality bonus.
Banking experience
Which payment methods are listed, with deposit and withdrawal support kept separate. We do not collapse "accepts Interac" into a single yes when the two directions differ.
Withdrawal information
The payout window the casino publishes. We treat that as their figure, not as a withdrawal we have timed. Independently timed withdrawals are shown separately when they exist.
Game selection
Published categories and the game count exactly as stated. A figure such as "400+" stays "400+"; we do not round it into a more convenient number.
Live casino offering
Live product depth only where we have enough evidence to judge. Unknown live facts do not become a silent disadvantage.
Mobile experience
Mobile web and native apps are different facts. Listing an app is not the same as judging how it feels to use.
Customer support
Which contact channels are published and the hours attached to them, without inventing response-quality claims we have not established.
Responsible gambling tools
Limit, timeout and self-exclusion tools offered to Ontario players, based on what we have actually confirmed for the brand.
Product usability
Registration, navigation and day-to-day use only where evidence supports a judgement. Hands-on claims require recorded evidence — they are never inferred from the brand name alone.
How we label where a fact came from
Casino pages distinguish facts we verified from operator-published claims, pending research and information the operator does not publish.
- Verified by us
- We have confirmed this ourselves, either by matching a claim to an authoritative listing or through a dated check we recorded, such as completing a withdrawal and timing it. The confirmation is scoped to the method and date on the page, and the label is used only when that record exists.
- Operator published
- The operator states this publicly. We record it and attribute it. Operator-published performance is never presented as something we measured independently.
- Research pending
- We have not established this yet. It is shown as unconfirmed — never as a zero, never as a no, and never as a con.
- Not published by the operator
- We looked and the operator does not publish it. That absence is itself the finding, and it is distinct from research we simply have not finished.
Evidence, unknowns and review limitations
The rating describes our editorial view of the casino. Evidence coverage describes how complete the supporting information is. They answer different questions. Evidence coverage is not a second score, so a 4.5 rating may sit beside Medium coverage when important product details still need checking.
Missing information is not treated as a negative feature. If an app, payment direction or support channel cannot be confirmed, the review explains why that detail matters to a player instead of marking it as unavailable.
When official pages publish conflicting information, we show the practical consequence and use the more cautious planning figure. Market comparisons appear only when both casinos provide enough detail for a fair comparison.
Every casino page carries the date its Ontario market status was checked. If something looks wrong or out of date, tell us what and where so it can be checked again.
What we do not do
- We do not publish current bonus offers. You will not find bonus amounts, free-spin counts or promo codes on this site. We explain how bonus mechanics work; we do not market them.
- We do not fill gaps with plausible figures. If an operator publishes "400+ games", the page says "400+". Missing research stays unconfirmed.
- We do not turn availability into a quality score. Being active in Ontario's regulated market is an eligibility fact with a check date. It is not proof that the product is better than another active brand.
- We do not claim to license or certify anyone. We are an independent publication. Availability in Ontario's regulated market is taken from public sources, with a date — never as certification by this site.
- We do not invent hands-on testing. Screenshots and observations only support claims within the scope they were captured. A screenshot is not treated as a completed product test.
Commercial relationships
At launch, every casino with a published review is a commercial partner; scores follow the same method either way. If you sign up through a link on this site, we may earn a commission. That relationship never changes the rating, and every commercial link is marked as sponsored.
A casino that is not a commercial partner is reviewed against the same criteria and may receive a higher rating than a partner. Partnership does not change evidence coverage or any published rating. A casino that has left Ontario's regulated market never carries a commercial link.
Methodology questions
Is the rating affected by affiliate partnerships?
No. A commercial relationship does not change the rating. Partnership does not raise a score, and the absence of a partnership does not lower one. Commercial links are disclosed where they appear.
Why do some reviews show unconfirmed details or review limitations?
Because we have not established that fact yet, or the evidence is too thin to support a judgement. Those labels describe our research state. They are not the same as "no", and they are not treated as casino defects.
What does "available in Ontario's regulated market" mean on this site?
It means we have confirmed that the brand appears in Ontario's regulated iGaming market, with a status-checked date. It is not a licence issued by this publication, and it is not a quality endorsement on its own.
How do I report a mistake?
Tell us which page, which claim, and what you believe the correct source is. We re-check the source and update the page when the evidence supports a change.
See it on a review
Browse the casino directory or open one of the rated reviews to see the method in practice.
Trusted Ontario casino information
Compare Ontario casinos in one list
Every brand shows its Ontario status and the date we last checked it.