Gambling age by province: casinos, lottery and online play across Canada

How old do you have to be to gamble in each province?

Gambling is run province by province under section 207 of the Criminal Code, so there is no single national age. Each province sets its own through its lottery corporation, regulator or regulations. The table below lists the age stated in the primary source for each jurisdiction and what that source actually covers, which matters because some sources speak only about lottery tickets or only about online accounts.

Two patterns stand out. The 18 provinces are consistent across products: Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec do not run a separate, higher casino age in the sources reviewed. The 19 provinces are less tidy, because Ontario and Saskatchewan let 18-year-olds buy lottery tickets while keeping casinos and online accounts at 19.

Why can an 18-year-old buy a lottery ticket in Ontario but not play online slots?

OLG's own terms draw the line by product. Lottery, charitable gaming and in-store sports betting are open at 18. Casinos, slot facilities, online casino games and online sports betting require you to be 19.

The AGCO's Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming, which apply to every registered online operator in Ontario, follow the same split. Under standard 3.01, people under 19 are not eligible to play, with the exception of lottery tickets, where the age is 18. In practice, an 18-year-old in Ontario can buy a lottery ticket or place a sports bet over the counter at a retailer, but cannot open an account on a regulated online casino or sportsbook. Sports betting in more detail is in our guide to single-event sports betting in Canada.

Is Saskatchewan 18 or 19?

Both, depending on what you buy. Casino Regina's guest guidelines state a minimum age of 19 and say ID is compulsory. The PlayNow SK player agreement requires you to be 19 or older, a Saskatchewan resident and physically in Saskatchewan.

Lottery tickets are different because Saskatchewan sells them through the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, which also serves Alberta and Manitoba as members and the three territories as associate members. WCLC's player policy refuses the sale or cashing of lottery tickets to anyone under 18. The result is that an 18-year-old in Saskatchewan can buy a Western lottery ticket but cannot enter a casino or open a PlayNow SK account until 19.

What about the Atlantic provinces?

Nova Scotia has the clearest written rule. Section 7 of the Atlantic Lottery Regulations made under the Gaming Control Act bars selling a ticket to, validating a ticket for, or paying a prize to anyone under 19, and does not permit people under 19 to play online games. The age applies to the whole transaction, not just the purchase.

For New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Lottery's online terms require account holders to be at least 19, to live in Atlantic Canada and to be physically in Atlantic Canada when registering. Casino ages in those three provinces could not be confirmed from a primary source for this guide, so they are left out of the table rather than guessed.

What is the gambling age in the territories?

Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut buy their lottery products through WCLC as associate members, so the WCLC rule applies: no lottery sale or cashing for anyone under 18. The Northwest Territories went through a formal change on this point. A government proposal of May 2022 to amend its Western Canada Lottery Act regulations set the purchase age at 18 and the minimum age to sell tickets at 16.

The territories do not have the provincial-style online casino sites described elsewhere in this guide, and the sources reviewed do not set an age for other forms of gambling there. If you are in a territory and want to know about a specific bingo, raffle or event, check the territorial government's own rules for that licence.

Does Alberta's new online law change the age?

No. The age stays at 18 and is now written into the online statute. A provincial fact sheet dated January 13, 2026 says Bill 48, the iGaming Alberta Act, sets the minimum age for online betting at 18, names the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission as regulator and creates the Alberta iGaming Corporation. The same fact sheet said the market was planned to launch later in 2026. Our Alberta online casino page follows how that market is set up.

Alberta's age for land-based gaming is also 18, according to AGLC, and lottery tickets follow the WCLC rule of 18. That makes Alberta one of the few places where a single number really does cover every product.

Can you play online in a province where the age is lower?

Not by simply crossing the border with your phone. Provincial sites tie the account to where you are, and some to where you live:

• The PlayNow MB player agreement requires you to be at least 18, a Manitoba resident and physically in Manitoba.
• Loto-Québec's Mise-o-jeu+ requires you to be 18 or older and physically in Quebec to bet.
• PlayNow SK requires residence in Saskatchewan and presence in the province, at 19.
• Atlantic Lottery requires you to be in Atlantic Canada when registering, at 19.

A 19-year-old Ontarian on a weekend in Montreal is above the age everywhere, so the question there is location, not age. An 18-year-old from Ontario is a different case: the Quebec age of 18 applies at the door of a Quebec casino, but online accounts in Manitoba, for example, are reserved for residents. Our Quebec online casino guide covers the Loto-Québec side.

Offshore sites set their own minimum age in their own terms. That age does not replace the provincial one, and an offshore site sits outside provincial protection, including the identity and dispute rules that bind provincial and AGCO-registered operators.

What ID do casinos ask for at the door?

Land-based casinos check age in person, and the rules are stricter than many visitors expect. Loto-Québec's visitor information for the Casino de Montréal asks for identification from anyone who appears 25 or younger, and only original photo ID is accepted. Photocopies and photos of ID on a phone are refused.

Casino Regina's guidelines put it in two words: ID compulsory. If you look young for your age, carry a current government-issued photo card even when you do not expect to be asked. A driver's licence or a provincial photo identity card is the everyday option for most people.

How do online sites check your age without seeing you?

Through identity verification at registration. In Ontario, AGCO standard 3.04 requires operators to validate the information a player provides before the account is created, including the information needed under federal anti-money-laundering law. Because the date of birth is part of that identity, the age check happens at the same time.

FINTRAC's guidance on verifying identity lists the methods a casino can rely on:

• Government-issued photo ID that is authentic, valid and current. When you are not present, the document can be checked remotely, for example by scanning it and comparing it with a selfie or a live video.
• A credit file that has existed for at least three years, searched at the time of verification.
• A dual-process method that uses two different reliable sources, such as a bank statement and a utility bill. FINTRAC states that social media is not an acceptable source.

The three-year rule matters most for younger players. At 18 or 19, many people do not yet have a credit file old enough to count, so a site using that method has to fall back on a photo ID scan or two separate documents. If you are asked for a selfie or a second document, that is usually why. Our guide to casino KYC documents lists what to upload and the common reasons uploads are rejected.