The UK has one of the biggest online gambling sectors on the planet and has been around for decades. Canada, on the other hand, is one of the newest countries to change gambling laws, only passing a bill to allow each province to dictate their own regulations in 2021.
It’s now April 2023 and how is this newly fledged Canadian market stacking up against one of the biggest markets in the world? Let’s take a look at some of the stats and figures and how the two countries compare. All statistics come from Statista.
The size of the market
All gambling in the UK is regulated by the UKGC, or the UK Gambling Commission, which reports all figures to the government. Whilst the figures for 2023 haven’t been published yet, in 2022 gambling made just over £14 billion. This was a 10% increase over the year before. Of that £14 billion, £6.4 billion was attributed to online gambling activities.
The Canadian gambling market is governed within each province instead of an encompassing body. In the first year of the gambling bill being passed, the revenue for Canada was around $12.4 billion. Whilst this isn’t as much as the UK market, you’ve got to remember the market had only been around for a year at this point!
Gambler statistics
Now let’s take a look at the gamblers themselves. Both countries swayed heavily towards males being the predominant gamblers, with the UK having slightly more female gamblers overall. Interestingly, when it comes to age, Canada has a higher average age of people gambling, with more people aged between 45-60 playing than in the UK.
When it comes to what device people are playing their online casino games on, the UK has a much higher percentage of players on mobile phones, whereas Canadians are enjoying playing on their desktop computers.
Favorite Game Types
When it comes to casino games, both countries have roughly the same preferences. While sports betting is the most popular betting type for both countries, slots and online slot games come second. More Canadians enjoy card and table games though, as well as live casino games.
The reasoning behind this is that in Canada there’s been a heavy bias towards land casinos, which heavily feature table games such as Blackjack and Roulette. Online casinos are a newer addition and the novelty of these new games are boosting their popularity.
The Providers
The statistics show quite a big divide between the countries when it comes to providers. Thanks to the huge choice available to players in the UK, they often ‘shop around’ more and are members of more online casinos than in Canada. Canadians have a much smaller pool to choose from, so the stats show that they tend to stick between 1-3 providers.
Conclusion
Despite the difference in legislation and size, both the UK and Canada share many similarities when it comes to the statistics of gambling. If things keep trending the way they do and more provinces of Canada change their legislation, it could only be a matter of time before the Canadian market overtakes and becomes one of the biggest markets in the industry!
Last Updated: May 2, 2023