Online Gambling in British Columbia: Laws and Regulations
Canada is one of the countries where everything is well organized and regulated. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that online gambling is also taken care of in means of legality. Moreover, with the Criminal Code of Canada governing all forms of gambling at the overall level, the country gave permission to all its provinces and territories to regulate this activity within their borders.
British Columbia is one of the provinces that quickly took control over gambling activities and made sure every game type joins the crowd. When it comes to online gambling, British Columbia gave its best to make it officially legal, but the Criminal Code still keeps some points of it in the grey area.
In this text, we will go through the legal forms of gambling in general within the borders of British Columbia, as well as all the legal aspects of online gambling. For more information on the matter — stay tuned.
Top 3 Online Casinos in British Columbia
PlayOJO Casino
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Canadian Gambling Laws — Is Gambling Online Allowed in British Columbia?
As we mentioned, gambling in Canada is regulated on two different levels. British Columbia is in charge of regulating gambling within its territory, while the Criminal Code of Canada is the overall authority.
Now, if we are making an assumption based on the laws within British Columbia, online gambling is absolutely legal provided that it’s done via the official site of British Columbia Lottery Corp — PlayNow.com. Additionally, BCLC can cooperate with other Canadian provinces and allow their residents to gamble at PlayNow.com.
One such example is Manitoba that works in tandem with BC. Therefore, if you are a resident of British Columbia or Manitoba, you can legally gamble online by visiting PlayNow.com without any worries.
The details on online gambling within British Columbia are clearly stated in the Lottery Corporation’s Mandate, Gaming Control Act, Pt. 2, Div. 2, Provincial Gaming.
However, all the other gambling activities in British Columbia that don’t fall under the BCLC regulations are subject to the Criminal Code of Canada. All the legalities regarding online gambling in BC are listed in Part VII, Disorderly Houses, Gaming and Betting. At the same time, illegal actions can be found in Part VII, Section 202, Betting, Pool-Selling, Book-Making, etc.
As these legal terms are often difficult to read and interpret, we are offering our interpretation of the vital pieces of information packed in a few lines:
- Online gambling in British Columbia is entirely legal provided that you use the PlayNow.com website, are over 19, and physically located within British Columbia or Manitoba.
- Playing at online casinos located outside of Canada is not considered illegal.
- If offshore casinos do not specifically target Canadian citizens and promote their services in Canada, comply with the basic gambling laws of BC, and are not physically located on Canadian soil, they are not considered to be breaking any laws by accepting Canadian players.
- The operators of online casinos are the only party that can be subject to potential penalties, while players are not perceived as guilty.
Is Gambling in Offshore Casinos Legal in British Columbia?
Although this falls into the grey area to some extent, objectively speaking, residents of British Columbia have no reason to avoid playing at offshore gambling sites. Actually, offshore gambling operators are the ones who need to comply with certain terms and conditions.
As the offshore gambling sites are not allowed to promote their services to Canadian citizens, you probably won’t find any operator doing it. However, when you look for online gambling sites online, you will be able to access plenty of them from British Columbia and create an account with all your valid details. If you are able to do so, it means that the site accepts Canadians and will enable you to proceed with gambling.
Another important thing for offshore gambling sites is that they are not physically present on Canadian soil. This, however, also does not affect you as a player, but it is good to know, just in case you want to be on the safe side.
Things to Look For When Choosing an Offshore Online Casino
Even though you are allowed to play in offshore casinos, there are some things you should pay attention to when choosing one.
Legality and Security — Every online gambling operator must own a license from a reputable organization, and this is the first thing you should check. The most common licenses you will come across are the ones from the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, the Government of Curaçao, and so on. Then, the next thing you need to check is if the site possesses an encryption certificate and whether it has been checked by independent audit companies.
Customer Support — Before you even try to get in touch with customer support in the particular online casino, check for their FAQs page. Usually, the good online gambling operators have already answered the most common questions and made it easy for you to get all the answers you need. However, it would be very helpful if the casino you picked offers customer support that can be easily contacted. The best way to do this is the live chat option that is getting more and more popular. If the online casino has this option, try to use it before you do anything else, only to see whether or not you can rely on it in times of need.
Players’ Experience — Finally, before you decide that any online gambling operator is the right choice for you, do some light research. Nowadays, you have numerous reputable sites where regular players leave the reviews of the online casinos they have played in. This is an easy way to find out how a casino operates, as well as what are the hits and misses. You can even pose a question yourself and will probably get the answer in no time.
Brief History and Legal Forms of Gambling in British Columbia
In 1969, the Criminal Code of Canada was amended, thus allowing the provinces and territories in Canada to regulate lotteries. Since 1974, gambling started evolving in British Columbia when the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) was formed by the union of BC with Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The purpose of this non-profit organization was to enable its members to participate in the lottery and other gambling-oriented games.
This system worked for a while, until 1985 when British Columbia managed to leave the union and organize the independent British Columbia Lottery Corp (BCLC). From this moment on, they didn’t stop introducing new gambling activities. The following year, British Columbia started offering what we know as an online lottery game in the shape of pull tabs.
The ‘90s were even more productive in terms of gambling in British Columbia. 1995 was a significant year for keno, while slot machines got the attention of the BC’s residents in 1997.
Soon after the slots, British Columbia quickly added other gambling activities, including some types of online gambling. The British Columbia Lottery Corp launched the site PlayNow.com in 2004 where players could enjoy lottery and sports betting. Five years later, online poker joined the stage, together with other online casino games that started attracting players in 2010.
FAQs
No, online gamblers that do not make a living out of playing online games do not need to pay any taxes on their winnings from online gambling.
Any online casino that operates legally must possess a license from a reputable organization. This information should be available and easily accessible on the official website of the casino. If you find the details about the license, feel free to play there.
Yes, offshore casinos are more than willing to accept players from British Columbia. However, bear in mind that they are not allowed to promote their services to Canadian citizens, so you are on your own in finding the best ones.
If you are a resident of British Columbia and want to participate in gambling activities, you must be at least 19.
Online gambling in British Columbia is legal, provided that you play games at the official BCLC’s website PlayNow.com. Apart from that, there is no law that strictly prohibits residents from British Columbia to visit offshore gambling sites.
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