Stake, one of the best-known names in Canada’s unregulated online gambling market, now has a licence in Alberta. Stake Canada Ltd., part of the Australian company Easygo, received its iGaming operator registration from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) on 24 September 2026 and a licence on 6 October, Canadian Gaming Business reported. The company was aiming to launch sports betting and casino games at stake.ca on 12 October, one day before Alberta’s deadline for grey-market operators to either join the regulated market or stop serving the province.
None of that changes anything in Ontario yet.
Not on Ontario’s list
Stake does not appear on iGaming Ontario’s directory of regulated sites, which lists every operator allowed to offer online casino games or sports betting to people in the province. The company has applied to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), according to Canadian Gaming Business, but has given no timeline. Its general manager in Canada, Kris Abbott, described the Ontario process as “a bit of a stop-start process.” The stake.ca homepage currently says the brand is coming to Alberta and Ontario.
It is not the first time Stake has signalled an Ontario launch. In 2024, CBC reported that stake.ca was promising a launch that year, and that iGaming Ontario had confirmed Stake was not licensed in the province.
Why the licence matters for players
Stake built its Canadian audience through stake.com, which operates under a Curaçao licence rather than a provincial one. Industry estimates cited by Canadian Gaming Business put Stake’s share of Canada’s unregulated market at around 31%, second only to Betway’s parent, Super Group. That scale is exactly why provinces want brands like Stake inside their rules: players on a regulated site get identity checks, deposit limits, a complaints route and, in Ontario, access to BetGuard, the province-wide self-exclusion programme.
A provincial licence only covers play inside that province. Ontario’s rules allow you to play only with an operator on iGaming Ontario’s list, and only while you are physically in Ontario. An Alberta licence does not make Stake a regulated option for someone in Toronto or Ottawa, and the AGCO has said it has no regulatory authority over sites that operate outside the Ontario system. If something goes wrong with an unregulated account, the province cannot step in.
How to check any site
The quickest test is the iGaming Ontario directory: if a brand is not there, it is not regulated in Ontario, whatever its marketing says. Our Ontario casino checker and the guide on how to check if an Ontario casino is regulated walk through the same steps. Regulated sites also show the operator’s AGCO registration, the 19+ age rule and the requirement to be in Ontario.
If Stake does get through the AGCO process, it will appear on that list like any other operator, and we will update this story.
Sources: Canadian Gaming Business · iGaming Ontario · CBC News · Government of Alberta
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