British Columbia Betting

British Columbia has one lawful online betting site, and it belongs to the province. The provincial government puts it in a line: “Online gambling – PlayNow.com is the only legal online gambling site in B.C.” The same page gives the principle — “In B.C., gambling is legal only when it’s run by the provincial government” — and the regulator says it from the other side: “BCLC’s PlayNow.com is the only regulated online gambling website permitted in B.C.”

Why No Private Sportsbook Can Be Licensed Here

Canada has no national gambling licence, and no province can create one for the internet. Two provisions of the Criminal Code do the work. Section 207(1)(a) makes it lawful “for the government of a province… to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province… in accordance with any law enacted by the legislature of that province” — the power BCLC exercises. Paragraphs (1)(b) to (f) then let a province license charities, religious organisations, fairs and public places of amusement, and section 207(4)(c) removes the internet from all of them, excluding for those paragraphs any scheme “that is operated on or through a computer, video device, slot machine or a dice game”.

So a province may run an online betting operation itself under paragraph (1)(a), where the computer exclusion does not bite, but cannot license anyone else to run one. It is why British Columbia publishes no register of private online sportsbooks: there is no licence for one to record.

How British Columbia Enacted It

The provincial statute is the Gaming Control Act, S.B.C. 2022, c. 29, in force since 13 April 2026, which repealed the 2002 Act of the same name. Section 3 joins the two layers: “A provincial gaming scheme is a lottery scheme that is authorized under section 207 (1) (a) of the Criminal Code to be conducted and managed by the government of a province… conducted and managed by the lottery corporation on behalf of the government of British Columbia.” Section 39 closes the field — “A person must not conduct, manage or operate a lottery scheme except as provided in this section” — and its exceptions reach only BCLC, charitable gaming event licensees, and registered gaming services providers. The definitions settle the online question: an “online gaming scheme” means one “in which an individual participates through the use of the lottery corporation’s online platform”.

Single-Event Betting Arrived in 2021

Before August 2021 no Canadian government could take a bet on one game: section 207(4)(b) excluded from “lottery scheme” any bookmaking or recording of bets “on any race or fight, or on a single sport event or athletic contest”, which is why provincial lotteries sold parlays only. The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act (S.C. 2021, c. 20, the bill numbered C-218) replaced those words with “on any horse-race”. Assented to on 29 June 2021, it took effect on 27 August 2021, the date of Justice Canada’s first point-in-time version of section 207 carrying the new text. BCLC added single-event wagering to PlayNow afterwards; its corporate history gives no date, so none is stated here.

The Regulator, and a 2026 Change Worth Knowing

British Columbia splits the roles: BCLC runs the gambling, a separate body regulates it. Since 13 April 2026 that body has been the Independent Gambling Control Office, “the provincial regulator for all gambling, horse racing, and responsible gambling programs in British Columbia”. It replaced the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch: “The IGCO was established in 2026, replacing the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch (GPEB)…” The launch release gives the reason — “to separate the regulatory and revenue generation functions of gambling”. Any reference to GPEB now names a defunct body.

The IGCO does register companies, which is not a licensing route: applicants must “Be a party to a contract to provide gambling services either to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation or a registered gaming services provider…” It registers BCLC’s suppliers, not its competitors.

Minimum Age

Nineteen. “You must be 19 years or older to gamble in B.C. This includes casinos, lottery tickets, online gambling, and charitable events”, says the province. The statute agrees: Gaming Control Act s. 41 bars BCLC from allowing “a minor… to participate in a provincial gaming scheme”, and a minor is a person under the age of majority, fixed at 19 by the Age of Majority Act.

Horse Racing Runs on a Separate Federal Track

Pari-mutuel horse betting was never part of the lottery monopoly, and the 2021 amendment did not touch it: section 207(4)(b) lifts bets “on any horse-race” out of “lottery scheme”, and section 207(5) adds that nothing in section 207 authorises them “other than in accordance with section 204”. Section 204 is federal: subsection 204(3) forbids using a pari-mutuel system “unless the system has been approved by and its operation is carried on under the supervision of an officer appointed by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food” — work done by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency — and subsection 204(2) deems bets sent “by any means of telecommunication to the race-course of an association” to be made there.

Account wagering is not a nationwide entitlement, though. Section 77(2) of the Pari-Mutuel Betting Supervision Regulations lets an association open a telephone betting account for a resident of a province where it operates a track, and otherwise only where that province has no racing commission, holds no races, or its commission authorises the account. Provincially, horse racing falls to the same regulator as gambling: “The IGCO regulates horse racing in B.C.… Operators of race tracks and teletheatres must be licensed by the IGCO.” Woodbine Entertainment’s HPIbet, the main Canadian account-wagering service, states in its terms of use that an account holder must be “a person 18 (19 in B.C.) years or older” who “resides in our Home Market Area… established… by your Provincial Racing Commission” — so British Columbians are eligible, at 19.

Prediction Markets and Event Contracts

The national position comes from securities regulators, not gambling ones. In April 2026 the Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization noted that “to date, no prediction market has been recognized as an exchange or registered as a dealer (or exempted from those requirements) by the CSA”. On 27 August 2026 the two issued Joint CSA and CIRO Staff Notice 91-307: “CSA staff’s view is that Event Contracts based on sports and entertainment events or outcomes should not be regulated within securities and derivatives legislation.” The notice pushes sports event contracts out of securities law without saying where they land — it mentions neither the Criminal Code nor provincial gaming legislation. British Columbia is one of only two provinces whose gambling regulator has answered that question in writing.

The IGCO did so the next day, in an update on prediction markets dated 28 August 2026:

“Under BC’s current legislation, products based on sports or entertainment outcomes are considered gambling by the IGCO and must be regulated in accordance with the Criminal Code of Canada and provincial gaming legislation… All other online gambling websites that allow BC players to access their sites, including those that offer event contracts based on sports or entertainment outcomes, operate illegally in our province.” — Independent Gambling Control Office, 28 August 2026

Neither Kalshi nor Polymarket is named anywhere. Searches of the IGCO news listing, BCLC media releases and OSC investor alerts returned nothing for either.

Responsible Gambling

The province funds Gambling Support BC, a “24/7 helpline” on 1-888-795-6111, which the service describes as “free help for any British Columbia resident”. The IGCO administers it as “a provincial government program that provides responsible gambling education, prevention resources, and direct support services to anyone struggling with gambling related harm”.