Canada’s provincial public gaming bodies have relaunched the Canadian Lottery Coalition as the Canadian Alliance for Regulated Gaming (CARG), a national not-for-profit association for the legal gambling industry.
CARG launched on 5 October 2026 and is based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Its founding members are provincial public organisations that return all of their profits to their provinces.
The association said it will work with governments, regulators and industry on player health, consumer protection and stronger enforcement against unlicensed activity. A new website went live alongside the announcement.
The pressures CARG says it will tackle
- Illegal online gambling sites
- Growth in gambling advertising
- New products such as prediction markets
- Fast-changing technology
CARG plans to carry out research, public education and policy work on these issues. Executive Director Molly Cormier is the association’s spokesperson. She said the issues facing the sector are national in scope and that legal operators need one strong voice.
Why it matters for suppliers and operators
Canada does not have a single gambling market. Each province sets its own approach, and in most of them the provincial lottery corporation remains the only legal online option.
Ontario opened online casino and sports betting to licensed private operators in 2022, and Alberta has since begun opening its market to competition. Outside those provinces, the public bodies behind CARG are the main buyers of platforms, games and lottery systems, so their policy positions can shape procurement.
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What to watch
The association’s focus on offshore sites and prediction markets puts it in the middle of two live debates. Some US prediction market companies have been seeking to enter Canada, and provincial bodies have long argued that unlicensed online operators draw revenue away from regulated channels.
How CARG engages with federal and provincial governments on enforcement, and whether it takes formal positions on advertising rules, will indicate how much influence the new body can exert.
