Supreme Court Reserves Ruling on Ontario’s International iGaming Plan

The Supreme Court of Canada reserved its decision on 7 October 2026 after hearing an appeal over whether Ontario can allow players on its regulated online gambling sites to take part in games and betting with people outside Canada. The ruling will determine whether the province can pursue shared international player pools for peer-to-peer products such as online poker, which in Ontario’s regulated market are currently limited to players in the province.

The court did not say when it will rule. Until it does, nothing changes for Ontario players.

The question before the court

The case began in February 2024, when Ontario’s cabinet used Order in Council 210/2024 to refer a question to the Court of Appeal for Ontario: would legal online gaming and sports betting “remain lawful under the Criminal Code if its users were permitted to participate in games and betting involving individuals outside of Canada” under a model described in a schedule to the order? The answer depends on section 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, which makes it lawful for “the government of a province” to “conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province.” On 12 November 2025, a majority of the Court of Appeal (2025 ONCA 770) answered yes, by a 4-1 margin. In dissent, Justice Katherine van Rensburg concluded that Ontario’s involvement in the international liquidity aspects of the model would contravene the Criminal Code’s gaming prohibitions and fall outside the exemption.

Who is on each side

The appeal was brought by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation, with Loto-Québec added as an appellant in 2026. The Attorney General of Ontario is the respondent. The court granted intervener status to the Canadian Gaming Association, Flutter Entertainment plc, NSUS Group Inc. and NSUS Limited, and the Attorney General of Alberta, whose province opened its own regulated online gambling market to private operators in July 2026. The court’s orders barred the interveners from taking a position on how the appeal should be decided.

Two days before the hearing, the lottery corporations’ national association, the Canadian Lottery Coalition, relaunched as the Canadian Alliance for Regulated Gaming. Its executive director, Molly Cormier, told Canadian Gaming Business that members wanted “a national voice and a national platform to represent them.”

At the hearing

Matthew Milne-Smith, arguing for the lottery corporations, told the court the Court of Appeal had relied on the absence of an express prohibition on international play, when in gambling law “everything that is not expressly permitted is prohibited,” according to Courthouse News Service. Ananthan Sinnadurai, for Ontario, said the province remains in control of what its residents are offered: “We choose who we partner with. We still run the system in this province.”

Courthouse News reported that questions from the bench focused on how Ontario could enforce its rules against operators abroad and how the model fits the words “in that province.” Justice Mahmud Jamal remarked that the majority’s reasoning “looks like it was done back-to-front.” The court’s docket records the judgment as reserved.

What it means for players in Ontario

The case matters most to poker players. Peer-to-peer poker is a small part of Ontario’s regulated market: in August 2026 it accounted for $122 million in cash wagers and $5.6 million in revenue, about 1% of the private market on both measures, according to iGaming Ontario’s monthly data. Smaller player pools mean fewer tables and smaller tournament prize pools than on sites that share players across countries.

A decision in Ontario’s favour would not open international tables overnight. The province would still need agreements with other jurisdictions; Alberta officials have said publicly that the two provinces are discussing pooling players. A decision against Ontario would leave regulated poker and any future peer-to-peer products confined to Ontario-only pools unless another route is found.

In the meantime, sites that offer Ontarians “global” poker tables outside the regulated market do not come with the province’s player protections, including access to BetGuard self-exclusion and the AGCO complaints process. Check any site with the Ontario casino checker before depositing.