The Canadian cabinet has just authorized the Loto Quebec to enter into online gambling industry. Read more.
It’s a small step for Loto Quebec and one big step for the online gambling industry, or one small step for the online gambling industry and a big step for Loto Quebec, it depends on how you look at it, either way, both are taking a step forward.
Loto Quebec plans to follow the Swedish regulated online gambling which produced a whopping 600 million dollar in 2008 and saw its market share grow by 25% within hours of entering the market. With figures like that and millions of dollars there for the taking, it makes you wonder what took so long? Well it won’t be long before Loto Quebec sets up shop. Plans to launch full services are already in motion and the gaming monopoly hopes to be in full business by the fall.
It’s not like Quebecers don’t already have access to online gambling sites, so the competition will be healthy. The south shore of Montreal is home the Kahnawake Native reserve, where the Kahnawake Gaming Commission houses hundreds of online gaming servers in the community. It will be interesting to see how Loto Quebec deals with the competition that its government officials describe as illegal gaming. The Quebec site will be limited to offering its services only to resident within the province, but this move could have far reaching after shocks outside the borders of Quebec. The subject of legalization of online gambling has been on the backburner in many other Canadian provinces, with Quebec now accessing the market and soon to be raking in millions in revenue, how long will be it before other provinces both nearby and across the country follow suit?
With all of the money the province and Loto Quebec will soon be pulling they probably won’t give a shit about what the rest of Canada is doing. Quebec might even opt out of Canada and become its own country…Probably not, but we’ve heard that talk before. We’ve also heard the talk of legalization of online gambling from provinces like British Columbia, who already offer government online gambling sites. But even BC doesn’t offer single game sports betting. The fact is money talks, and many provincially run online entities are losing business to off shore firms that offer a wider array of gaming options. Loto Quebec is now in position to compete, is Canada bracing for a domino effect? Only time or should I say, only money will tell.
