How to choose an online casino in Canada

The 10-point check

1. Where are you? If you're physically in Ontario, start and finish with the iGO directory. Everywhere else, your province runs or licenses its own gambling, and international sites sit outside that system.
2. Who operates it? A legitimate site names a company in its footer or terms. Our featured brands name ProgressPlay Limited. The Casino Rewards sites name Apollo Entertainment Ltd for the website, plus a brand-management company in the terms.
3. Which licence, exactly? Note the regulator and number. “Licensed” on its own means nothing.
4. Can you verify it? Look the number up on the regulator's own site. Our four featured domains appear on the UK Gambling Commission register, and the Casino Rewards footers link to Kahnawake certificate pages naming each brand.
5. How do withdrawals work? Find the methods, any pending period, fees and verification rules before depositing.
6. Does your payment method work both ways? A deposit-only method means a detour when you cash out.
7. What does the bonus really cost? Wagering multiple, game contribution, time limit, maximum conversion, excluded methods. See wagering explained.
8. Which limits can you set, and how? Self-serve deposit, stake and loss limits are best. Some sites need you to contact support.
9. Who handles disputes? The terms should name the regulator's complaints route or an alternative dispute resolution body, such as eCOGRA at the Casino Rewards sites.
10. Does the small print surprise you? Skim the terms for weekly withdrawal caps, dormant-account fees, data-use clauses and bonus-abuse definitions.

Reading a licence statement

Licence statements follow a pattern: brand is operated or managed by company, which is licensed by regulator under number. Each part is checkable:

• UK Gambling Commission: its public register lists businesses by account number, with their domain names and status. ProgressPlay's account 39335 lists the four featured domains. A UK licence covers Great Britain, not Canada.
• Kahnawake Gaming Commission: based in Kahnawà:ke, Quebec. Its licensees' footers link to certificate pages on the Commission's site. Casino Rewards' terms cite licence 00972 (Fresh Horizons Limited) or 00884 (Rock Swift Group Limited).
• iGaming Ontario / AGCO: the only route for private online casinos serving people in Ontario. The iGO directory lists every regulated site.

Red flags that should end the search

• No company name, or a licence number that doesn't match anything on the regulator's site.
• Withdrawal terms you can't find, or “fees” to release winnings.
• Support that asks for your password or one-time codes.
• Bonus pages that describe gambling as free of danger or promise that you'll come out ahead.
• Pressure to deposit more to “unlock” a withdrawal.

Using our list as a shortcut

Our casino list has already done steps 2–5 and 8–9 for 20 brands, with dates. You still need to do step 1 (where you are) and step 7 (whether a bonus suits you), because only you can answer those.