There’s no question that the iGaming scene in Canada is at a turning point at the moment. With an annual revenue in 2024 of CAN$3.2 billion showing a remarkable 32% increase on the previous year’s figure, many are anticipating that the next few years will see similarly stratospheric changes.
So this year’s Canadian Gaming Summit was an event that also attracted unprecedented levels of interest. Held in Toronto between June 17th and 19th at the city’s Metro Convention Centre, it attracted 3,000 delegates connected with all areas of the sector and featured 75 exhibitors, 150 high profile speakers and 75 affiliates.
The event itself was a combination of keynote speeches and interviews with leaders in their respective fields as well as opportunity for selling, networking and, naturally, it included some leisure time too. The summit has evolved over the years and, as the gaming and iGaming industries have grown closer over the years, this has had an effect. So, this year many of the exhibitors had a foot in both camps, particularly among games developers hoping to generate business from this fast-growing sector.
And, even for those not directly selling or buying services, it proved to be a huge melting pot bringing everyone including affiliates, suppliers, regulators, compliance experts and sports organizations together.
The Main Events
The Wednesday of the summit kicked off with an informal interview with the Hon. Doug Downey, Ontario’s Attorney General. With the province leading the way in opening up the iGaming sector this proved to be a very illuminating exploration of what has worked, and what hasn’t worked so well, something that other provinces about to embark on the journey were certainly keen to learn.
With cybercrime on the increase this was another key topic of conversation at the summit with a number of sessions dedicated to highlighting how operators can protect themselves. In the OLG Cybercrime Symposium the Chief Research Officer of WithSecure Mikko Hyppönen explained who the attackers are likely to be, their tactics and the threat of Generative AI.
For those who wanted to dig even deeper into the subject the Microsoft Global Black Belt Nick Selvaggio invited delegates to join him in getting into the mind of a hacker. Then, in an imagined scenario, he went through the stages of an attack showing how it could be stopped at key moments.
With Alberta set to become the next province to open up its iGaming sector there was also a session in which the Hon. Dale Nally went through the vision and how it was hoped it would be achieved.
Of particular interest to Canadian online casinos was a session run by the research group Ipsos. This examined the emotional connections to drive consumer and player behavior. Sharing many insights into what turns a casual player into a loyal one this was a fascinating exploration of the emotional touchpoints available to operators throughout the player’s betting journey.
Naturally, there were countless other talks and seminars for delegates to attend covering everything from innovative payment methods to the sometimes-tricky area of compliance. There were also plenty of opportunities for socialising after the day’s main events had drawn to a close, including the official Summit Party held in Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Key Takeaways
It was generally agreed that there were three key takeaways from the 2025 event. The first of these, following the Hon. Dale Nally’s presentation, was that Alberta will be the next Ontario. This is obviously going to need sensitivity in working with First Nation and land-based operators but will also hinge on innovation, co-operation and safety if it’s to succeed in the way in which Ontario has managed.
Secondly, the importance of payment methods and technologies have been very much brought to the fore. In a payment leadership panel, it was agreed that the arrival of a real-time rail will start to enable quicker payouts, allow higher limits and give players better control. It’s also likely that very soon players will be able to fund accounts mid-game without having to pause their play.
The overall conclusion was that only online casinos offering all these features will be able to thrive.
The third takeaway was that despite its initial success Ontario is set to launch an in-depth review of both its online and land-based gaming sectors. The desired outcome will be to increase the synergy across both as well as to make play safer and to ensure that the province continues to adapt its policies and influence in line with changing player behaviour and habits.
The event was also notable for being the last that will be held with the current title. From 2026 it will be rebranded as SBC Summit Canada in order to make it a more truly global event – and with the country’s expanding iGaming sector it’s sure to attract even more international interest.
