New Brunswick considers changing iGaming model, Telegraph-Journal reports

Finance Minister René Legacy told the Telegraph-Journal that the government of Susan Holt, the province's first minister, is looking at altering how iGaming is regulated in New Brunswick. The province's online gambling market is run at present by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC), a publicly owned entity. That organization supplies lottery, sports betting and online casino products to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Telegraph-Journal reported that the review is driven by concern that the province is losing gambling revenue to unlicensed platforms. ALC President and CEO Dallas McCready said unregulated online gambling sites take about CA$200m ($142.3m) in revenue from Atlantic Canada each year. The ALC divides its profits among the four Atlantic provinces.

The Telegraph-Journal reported that New Brunswick residents who try to reach Ontario-licensed platforms are geo-blocked and are often redirected to international grey-market domains run by the same parent brands. McCready said the ALC raised its share of total regional online betting and gaming activity to 34% in the 2024–25 fiscal year, from 22% the year before, and that it aims to reach 50% of the market over the long term.

Research by TRM Public Affairs on market channelisation found that 25% of the CA$921m ($655.29m) available market in Atlantic Canada has been channelled, while 75% remains in the unregulated space, which TRM put at CA$691m ($491.6m) in unregulated gaming revenue. TRM estimated that CA$167.6m ($119.25m) in government revenue has been lost in Atlantic Canada.

The Telegraph-Journal report noted developments in other provinces. Ontario opened its commercial model in 2022 and recently reported CA$396.3m ($281.54m) in total non-adjusted gross gaming revenue for August, with nearly 50 licensed operators active. Alberta expanded its regulated framework on 13 July 2026 and has more than 50 operator sites live. In Quebec, the newly elected Parti Québécois minority government indicated during its campaign that it favours opening online gaming to private operators under a regulated provincial framework, and the opposition Liberal Party supports a similar model; the Coalition Avenir Québec, which kept the province's online gaming monopoly, saw its mandate end in the October provincial elections.

An unnamed iGaming industry source told the Telegraph-Journal that the New Brunswick review came as no shock and drew attention to what other provinces are doing. According to the source, several provinces are studying the best way to bring in regulated markets, Ontario's system has been an overwhelming success, and early signs point to Alberta possibly beating Ontario on a per-capita basis. The source added that both the Parti Québécois and the Quebec Liberal Party have said they intend to introduce regulation, and that a change of government in British Columbia could prompt a fresh examination of regulated iGaming there.