Aug
16th

Ontario Launching Online Casino by 2012

Following more than a year of heated debates as to whether or not Canada’s most populated province, Ontario, should offer an online gaming service, lottery officials recently announced that the eastern province will be joining British Columbia in launching an Internet gaming site of its own by 2012.

The government intends spending the following year and a half in deciding how to launch the program in an apparent effort to trim down its record deficit. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan stated that he expects online gaming, which will be available by 2012, to bring in approximately $100 million annually. Ontario is dealing with a shortfall of almost $20 billion at present.

The new Internet gaming site is set to be operated by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming (OLG) Corporation and will be regulated by Ontario’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission.

The announcement follows the launch of British Columbia’s site at PlayNow.com last month making it the first jurisdiction in North America to legalize online casino games. The government was obliged to shut down the British Columbia site shortly after the online casino games were launched due to security problems that enabled some gamblers to place bets with other users’ money and also having access to other users’ account information.

Paul Godfrey, Chairman for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation reported that online commerce is part of everyday lives across Canada and around the world and that they are excited to start the consultation process for online gaming and growing its marketplace in the future. He added that their program will implement a strong online responsible gaming program and offer increased player protection, secure transactions and data privacy.

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