In the capital city of Canada, there are a growing number of casinos obtaining a license from the AGCO to provide online casinos for Ottawa citizens. Enabling the option to enjoy casino games from the comfort of home or on the go.
In this guide we will look at what it takes to obtain such a license as well as assess what other criteria it takes to be considered a good casino. We will also take a look at the pros and cons of playing online.
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Since the introduction of Bill C-218, online casinos in Ottawa have been completely legal along with sportsbooks. The bill was passed in June 2021 and Ontario was the first province, in April 2022, to launch a fully regulated and legal online casino and sports betting industry. Players must be at least 19 years old and be located within Ontario and the providers must hold a license from the AGCO. So that means whether you’re playing online casinos in Sarnia or Stratford you are doing so in a regulated and licensed market.
To obtain and hold a license from the AGCO there are some stringent rules and regulations that the gambling sites must follow. The below table highlights some of the main criteria that the AGCO will closely monitor.
| Responsible Gambling | Assessing situations where players could experience harm and ensuring that operators are intervening when necessary. Ensuring promotions and bonuses are only offered on the site itself and not in any advertisements or marketing materials. Ensuring that any affiliates are abiding by the same laws. |
|---|---|
| Game design and integrity | Games should be designed to facilitate low-risk pay behaviors such as displaying players net position at all times and not disguise losses as wins. Live casino games are monitored to ensure no collusion and cheating Processes set up to detect if game issues arise with fairness and payouts |
| Suspicious activity | Any suspicious betting behavior and transactions are detected and reported |
| Minors | Anyone under the age of 19 should be prevented from opening an account Advertising in any form must never target minors |
| Security | The sites should be secure so that personal details are not leaked or illegally passed on to others |
The number 1 item when looking for a new online casino in Peterborough, Pickering or anywhere within Ontario is the license. But what about after that, are they all the same? No. A license provides a fair, safe and responsible platform, it doesn’t regulate for good customer service or withdrawal speeds. It doesn’t regulate how many gaming providers should be on the site or whether it's intuitive to use..
And these areas are what set the casinos apart from each other and can provide either a great gaming experience or one that leaves you feeling like you're stuck in a never-ending line at ServiceOntario.
There are a few words that you want associated with a games library, and one of them is big. You want enough games to keep you entertained rather than having to do laps of your odd few favorites. Look at the software providers, are they decent offering bankable favorites such as Bloodsuckers or Starmania. And then past the slots what about live casino, what about table games, these should all be taken into consideration.
Does the casino offer your preferred payment method, maybe its Interac or Mastercard, either way payment options between the providers can vary so don’t just assume. Withdrawals should be straightforward with a low minimum amount, nothing more frustrating than going to withdraw your $10 winnings only to discover a minimum of $50 is required to be able to withdraw.
You may be surprised to hear that not all online casinos in Ottawa have a friendly face waiting to resolve your query. In fact some casinos may just offer an FAQ section and a contact form. Whereas others will go the full 9 yards with a phone number, live chat, FAQs, socials. Never underestimate the importance of good customer support. It's one of those things you don’t realize how important it is until you need it and then it's too late.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that the casino should have a dedicated app, in fact a lot of the top casinos don’t. But what they should at least have is a mobile optimized site that makes playing on the go not only possible but also enjoyable. Allowing you to carry out any of the tasks from the regular site such as contacting customer support, playing the games or depositing and withdrawing funds, just as easily on mobile.
The site itself should be easy to use and just feel intuitive even if you’re completely new to online gaming. There should be filters in place to let you easily sift through the thousands of slots. Contacting customer support or accessing your account information should never be more than a couple of clicks away. Ideally it should be free of advertisements and flashy promos, a simple site without all the added noise and distractions.
As with most things in life there are both pro’s and con’s to playing online casinos but we firmly believe that the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to accessibility, flexibility, privacy and the sheer amount of games.
You can access online casinos from anywhere, provided you have a stable internet connection and at any time. No longer bound by opening hours or fitting into free time, you can literally play for 5 minutes whilst waiting for some pasta to boil and call it a night at that.
The amount of slots these online casinos have is unreal, some of the ones we have reviewed have upward of 2500 slots. And they aren’t some Z list titles but from the top software gaming providers such as NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Red Tiger and Play N Go to name just a few.
At an online casino in Ottawa you can play the games you want in complete privacy. In fact even if you join a live dealer experience for a more immersive experience you can still provide a username that in no way gives away your true identity and have interactions with players and the dealer through a chat box. So that dodgy poker face you’ve been working on gets to stay secret for a little bit longer.
A night out at a traditional casino usually involves more $ than just your betting budget; think getting there, parking, drinks, food and then your betting money. Plus if you’ve gone to the trouble of a night out you’d expect to be there for at least a couple of hours whereas at home you can call it quits at any point if you feel your budget being compromised.
This can be a real issue and it's one the AGCO has tried to prevent with its responsible gambling compliance. However it comes down to the player. The providers should have tools to allow you to manage your gambling such as setting loss limits, time reminders or even taking breaks. We would always advise you to use these tools, take regular breaks and never gamble when intoxicated or emotional.
Unfortunately it's difficult to replicate the atmosphere of a 30,000 sq ft casino filled with excitement and anticipation in your 150 sq ft kitchen with you and the dog. However, a lot of the online casinos do provide live casino experiences which is a live stream into a real casino with a real dealer and it's all done in real time.
Online casinos in Ottawa have taken center stage, providing citizens with a convenient gaming haven within the comfort of their own homes. We’ve uncovered the key aspects of obtaining an AGCO license, a necessity for any provider. Yet, securing a license is just the beginning, for what sets these casinos apart is actually the experience you have once you're on the site.
The diversity of games, the ease of payments, responsive customer support, mobile compatibility, and user-friendly interfaces—all of these finer points are what elevate a casino from just being compliant to actually being one of the best.
Provided the online casino in Sault Ste Marie has a license from the AGCO and you are over 19 years old and you reside within Ontario, it is 100% legal to play at online casinos.
All online casinos in Ottawa should have a license from the AGCO but past this it's the finer points that make a casino stand out as the best such as the customer support, the game variety, the payment methods available and withdrawals speeds.
The AGCO closely monitors all providers and some of the key areas that they take into consideration are; responsible gambling, site security, fairness of games and accurate withdrawals.
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