Nova Scotia Launches Regulated Online Casino Market

Thursday July 21st saw Nova Scotia launch its online casino industry through the Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s (ALC) website.

The launch sees slots, table games and video poker added to the products and services available at the ALC website with Nova Scotia becoming the second Canadian province, alongside New Brunswick, where the company offers iGaming.

“We didn’t want to make a big announcement about this. We’re not trying to really promote it. We just wanted to put it out there. It’s up and running now and it’s there for people who want to play.”

According to MacMaster, the decision to launch the service was made following several months of discussion between lawmakers and supporters backed by the ALC. During those discussions, he was made aware of how prevalent online gambling had become in the province noting that:

The ALC’s casino gaming is seen as a reputable alternative to international websites and will allow players to use ‘play wise’ tools that will help a player limit their spending and minimize losses.

A spokesperson for the Finance Department said the provincial gaming corporation expects the website to generate CAD$10 million ($7.8/€7.6 million) during its first year. However, MacMaster stated that finances were not a deciding factor in the launch.

The ALC’s other iGaming market, New Brunswick launched in 2020 and generated CAD$7.3 million ($5.7/€5.5 million) in its first year of operation. ALC had also managed to get Prince Edward Island on board but the local government has yet to set an official launch date.

Jenny Tang

An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.