iGaming in Ontario Sustains 12K Jobs, Adds CA$1.6B to GDP

Speaking at the Canadian Gaming Summit in Toronto, an event hosted by SBC, iGaming Ontario executive director Martha Otton confirmed that things had been moving in the right direction and said that numbers were reassuring. Although the full performance of the first quarter was not disclosed, Otton confirmed that the year-over-year results were expected to be more than three times bigger. Ontario’s first quarter will wrap up on June 30.

iGaming in Ontario Drives Strong Economic Results

iGaming Ontario did however offer the results provided by a report by Deloitte, “Economic Contributions of Ontario’s Regulated iGaming Market,” which argued that the economic impact on Ontario owed to the iGaming industry now stood at CA$1.6 billion and 12,000 full-time jobs across the entire province.

Otton welcomed these results and said that people involved in the iGaming sector were enjoying an average salary that was ahead of provincial rates. An average employee in iGaming earns $103,000 a year, which is 41% higher than the average annual salary in the province.

Things may get even better, however. Deloitte also gingerly predicts that the market’s full potential may be 22,000 full-time jobs along with CA$2.1 billion in revenue to the government.

A more likely scenario is one where the provincial government may expect to secure some CA$1.4 billion in revenue from iGaming by 2031 or 2032, the report says, citing compounded growth rate on an annual basis. Last year, the government in Ontario saw $470 million in revenue, for example.

Reuniting the World’s Elite to Discuss Ontario’s Future

Otton, whose organization is a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), was part of a panel discussing the regulated market in the province, and it included AGCO CEO Tom Mungham as well as iGaming Ontario board chair Dave Forestell, and Ontario AG Doug Downey.

Overall, the prospects of the Ontario iGaming market seem to be very good, with the provincial market serving as a litmus test for the mass legalization of iGaming and sports betting in Canada. Even then, there have been some complaints about the oversaturation of marketing content targeting provincial residents, and possibly vulnerable groups.