Loto-Québec hits back against calls for provincial online gambling market
Loto-Québec has some strong words about a newly formed organisation calling for the opening up of an iGaming market in Quebec – the Québec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC).
The Crown Corporation and provincial lottery operator’s Head of Media Relations and spokesperson, Renaud Dugas, shared a fiery statement with Lottery Daily after being approached for comment on the QOGC’s campaign.
Consisting of some of the biggest operators in US and Ontario iGaming, including DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment (owner of FanDuel), the QOGC argued that a hypothetical 20% tax on gross gaming revenue in a hypothetical Quebec gaming market would generate tax revenues of CA$300m in revenue (£161m).
Loto-Québec has not taken this well. The company is the only licensed gaming firm in Quebec, with its products not just encompassing draw-based and scratchcard lottery games, but also iGaming, sports betting, and bricks-and-mortar casinos and gaming halls.
The company argues that the QOGC represents out-of-province interest groups, with its membership consists of American firms and some British ones – Entain and Super Group’s Betway – with just one Canadian firm involved, Toronto-based Bet99.
“One thing must be set straight: the only Québec-related aspect of the Québec Online Gaming Coalition is its name. It brings together foreign companies that do not create value in Québec,” Dugas’ statement read.
“The Coalition is pushing for online gaming regulation under the pretext of protecting players. However, the operators it represents are themselves the source of risk by offering their products illegally.
“Moreover, they violate the existing framework: the Criminal Code of Canada. This is an insult to Quebecers’ intelligence.”
The problem and its cause
Loto-Québec has lambasted the companies involved in the iGaming coalition as ‘illegal operators’ and has criticised the argument that legalising a mulit-licence gambling market in Quebec would benefit player protection.
This is interesting as parallels could be drawn between the debate taking place in Quebec and in other markets, namely emerging ones, such as Finland.
In Finland, the argument that players were overwhelmingly moving to non-regulated sites prompted the government to press ahead with liberalisation, and a multi-licence market is due to open next year.
Loto-Quebec argues that this is not the case in its province. The corporation has cited data from Canadian market research firm Léger, which found that 81% of Quebecers choose its website for online gaming.
However, the research did also find that Quebecers spent twice as much money on illegal websites on average. While this may suggest that the QOGC has a point, Loto-Québec argues that this is far from the case.
“These websites use questionable strategies and practices to maximize player spending,” said Dugas. “Their so-called intention to protect the public is dubious at best, since the solutions they propose address a problem that they themselves created.”
Ontario not a role model
Loto-Québec’s distaste for the calls for Quebec to launch an online gaming market are understandable, from the company’s point of view. The launch of such a market would threaten its position as the only legal gaming provider in the province.
As stated above, the lottery is not Loto-Québec’s only game. In fact, revenue from gaming halls has been its biggest earner for some time, coming in at $675.4m for April-September 2025 – more than the $467.4m from lotteries.
Launching an iGaming market would bring in many more competitors to Loto-Québec, threatening both its commercial revenue and its mission of generating revenue for good causes across the province.
Meanwhile, whilst Ontario has emerged as one of the largest gambling markets in North America, Loto-Québec does not believe that its neighbour to the west is a role model for its iGaming market.
“The goal of the Coalition is clear: to legalise what’s illegal and further develop a market that only benefits foreign companies—not players,” Dugas’ statement concluded.
“If Coalition members were even the least bit ethical, they would comply with the regulatory framework and laws already in place here and immediately cease their illegal activities.
“We understand that, ultimately, their wish is to replicate the Ontario model, which led to player spending skyrocketing in recent years while also over-exposing the public to online gaming. The dividends paid to the government are quite modest compared to the billions generated and that leave the country.
“Is an explosion in player spending really desirable?”
However, the Quebec government will not just be listening to the cases made by the QOGC or Loto-Québec.
The government will also be listening to what the financial winds are saying out of Ontario, where an iGaming market launched in April 2022 generates hundreds of millions per year, and in Alberta, when that state launches its own market later this year.
https://lotterydaily.com/2026/02/16/highlighted/loto-quebec-igaming-2/