Best Progressive Slots Online 2024
Last Updated: April 2, 2024
Whether you’re a pro at online slot games or you’re brand new to casino games, you’re going to want to check out the best progressive slots online, to be in with the chance to win a substantial amount of dollars. That’s why we’ve put together this guide with everything you need to know about these exciting casino games.
We’ll dig into what progressive slots actually are, how they work, the different types of progressive slot games, the pros and cons of progressive slot machines, casino bonuses you can find and more. We’ve even given you a handy list of the best Canadian casinos online that have huge progressive jackpot slots!
Let’s get into it.
Top 5 Casinos Sites With Progressive Slots
Affiliate Disclosure: At CasinoOnlineIn.com, we want to ensure that players are matched with the right casino and sportsbook offers for them. For this reason, some of the recommended site links are affiliate links. This means that if you visit a website through our link and make a deposit, CasinoOnlineIn.com will receive a commission payment at no extra cost to you.
- 109 Progressive Slots
- VIP Program
- 24/7 Customer support
18+. New players only. $20 min deposit, wagering 30x bonus. Offer is available to players residing in Canada (excl. Ontario). T&C's apply.
- 24/7 customer support
- Award-winning mobile site
- Large section of games
18+. New players only. $10 min deposit, wagering 20x bonus. Offer is available to players residing in Canada (excl. Ontario). T&C's apply.
18+. New players only. $10 min deposit, wagering 35x bonus. Offer is available to players residing in Canada (excl. Ontario). T&C's apply.
- Huge progressive jackpots
- Great mobile casino
- Weekly bonuses and promos
18+. New players only. $10 min deposit, wagering 40x bonus. Offer is available to players residing in Canada (excl. Ontario). T&C's apply
- Loyalty scheme available
- Accepts Cryptocurrencies
- A new and popular casino
18+. New players only. $20 min deposit, wagering 30x deposit + bonus. Offer is available to players residing in Canada (excl. Ontario). T&C's apply.
On This Page
- Top Casinos Sites With Progressive Slots
- How We Rate Online Casinos
- What Are Progressive Slots?
- Types of Progressive Slot
- Pros of Playing Progressive Jackpot Slots Online
- Cons of Progressive Jackpot Games
- Top Jackpot Progressive Games
- Progressive Jackpot Slots for Ontario Players
- Biggest Ever Jackpot Progressive Winnings
- Progressive Jackpot Slot Developers
- Mobile Casino Progressive Jackpot Slots
When it comes to online casino games, there are few games that attract as much attention and popularity as progressive slots online. There aren’t many games that Canadians can enjoy that bring the unique combination of adrenaline-fueled game-play in a huge range of themes – as well as the chance to snag a massive jackpot prize. Players have walked away with life-changing progressive jackpot wins – we’re talking millions in gambling winnings!
Above you’ll find a list of the best casino sites for Canadian players that have some of the top progressive jackpot slot games on them. Simply click on the casino site you like the look of or read the review to get more information. All of these casinos have been thoroughly reviewed to make sure they meet our strict standards, which we’ll discuss next.
How We Rate Online Casinos
There are quite a few online casinos popping up in Canada, so it can be hard to tell a good casino operator from a not-so-good one. Like we said above, we have a tried and true system to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to online casinos – here’s what we look at:
The safety and security of the site
This is the most important factor to look at – we triple-check everything to make sure the site is fully licensed, has fair games and has full SSL security. These things ensure your personal and financial details stay safe and you get your payouts.
Casino bonus selection
You want to have a lucrative bonus when you play progressive jackpot slots – it gives you a slight boost to get you going. That’s why we always check to see what the bonus offered on the casino is. We like to see plenty of free spins and a nice matched deposits bonus – although we sometimes find a great no-deposit bonus!
Wide selection of games
Aside from some of the best progressive slots online, you want to have a selection of casino games just in case you feel in the mood for something a bit different. We make sure you have a wide range of software to choose from, including live gambling games, regular slots and even game show-style casino software.
Multiple well-known payment providers
You want to be able to get your progressive jackpot winnings out of a casino quickly and hassle-free, whilst also being able to deposit easily. We make sure to list casinos with verified and trustworthy payments, such as casinos accepting PayPal and Interac, pre-paid cards, major bank debit and credit cards as well as more.
The user experience
If you end up spending a lot of time playing on these sites with the best progressive jackpot slots, you want to be able to navigate around the site to all the areas you most commonly need easily. We don’t include any casinos that have complex layouts or make it hard to visit anywhere we think you may need to go on the site.
Mobile Compatibility
Canadians love to enjoy their favorite games whilst on the move – this includes progressive jackpots. This makes mobile compatibility for the games on these sites a highly important factor in choosing them.
Customer support
If you have an issue of any kind whilst playing at the casino, you want to be able to get it handled smoothly. All of the casinos we list will have fast, reliable and helpful customer support that comes in different forms.
What Are Progressive Slots?
Progressive slots are a certain type of online slot. The first ever progressive was released by IGT and called Mega Bucks, with plenty more coming out since then.
They share the same core mechanics as other online slot machines, such as the random number generator, reels and having to hit combinations, but with one big difference. That difference is that the prize pool available is usually much higher – when you win progressive jackpots, you can win enough money to set you up for life!
The term progressive is particularly important when it comes to these types of slots – it refers to the fact that these games have progressive jackpots that aren’t fixed – they’re always increasing from a set initial jackpot amount every time someone places a bet.
This makes them different from traditional online slots in their payouts. Traditional slots payout according to the wager you place, meaning they have a fixed max win. Progressive slot machine jackpots are pulled from the prize pool that every player of that machine has contributed to.
It’s thanks to these huge prizes that progressive slots became some of the most popular games around- they make up a whopping 30% of games in land-based casinos. But how do these impressive pieces of kit actually work?
How Do Progressive Slots Work?
You may be wondering how progressive slots work. Well, Progressive slot machines play very similarly to your regular slot machines in terms of game mechanics. You have different bonus rounds that you can land when you manage to get a certain number of special symbols on the reels. The big difference comes in the top payouts or the progressive jackpot mechanic.
The jackpot prize pool is made up of small contributions from every wager a player makes on the machines. Whilst the amount per spin that is contributed is tiny – a couple of cents or sometimes even only a percentage of a cent – these small amounts soon add up when you count the number of wagers that players make.
Over time these jackpots grow and grow – often the maximum amount you can win millions. To get your hands on the jackpot prize, you may have to land a combination on the reels multiple times or play through various bonus rounds.
When it comes to the contributions to these huge progressive jackpots, there are a number of different types of jackpot slots, which we’ll discuss next.
Types of Progressive Slot
Standalone Progressive jackpots
A standalone progressive slot game is the most simple variation. These games each have their own jackpot – they aren’t in any kind of jackpot network or jackpot pool. Because of only adding contributions from one machine to these jackpots, the prize pool will feature smaller progressive jackpots than the networked machines but you have a bigger chance of winning it.
Local Network Progressives
The next type of progressive slot game is the local network jackpot progressives. These types of slot machines run similarly to the stand-alone kind but have a small network of machines that are situated locally, usually in just one casino. The jackpot is made up of a small percentage of each wager from all of the slots in the local network.
Because more games are contributing with each spin, the jackpots on these machines are often higher than the standalone variations. If you fancy playing on a local progressive jackpot game, it may be worth having a look at different casinos in your area, as even though they’re the same slot game, the jackpot can be different as the casinos will most likely have different networks.
Wide Area Network Progressive slots
Finally, we get to the most sought-after variation of progressive games – Wide area networks. It’s this variety that can pay out the massive progressive jackpots that everyone is after!
Wide Area network progressive slots usually take a small cut of every spin or wager made on the slot machines over all networked casinos. An example would be 4 casinos located across the world, all featuring the same progressive slot machine game. Every bet made on all the games in the network, no matter which casino, would make a contribution towards the prize pool.
A wide area network can come in a variety of different forms. These include a network of multiple casinos, All casinos in a select country or even every version of that particular online slot game around the world. Thanks to having such a huge number of games to take a cut from, these progressives have major jackpots.
Pros of Playing Progressive Jackpot Slots Online
-
You can win life-changing money
the biggest benefit and the main reason people enjoy progressive slots is clear: you can win a staggering amount of money. Many progressive slots that you can find will actually only go down to $100,000 after the main bonus is won and the jackpot resets, meaning you can still get your hands on a decent chunk of change even if you’ve just missed out on the biggest of the jackpot prizes.
-
Widely available
Thanks to their popularity, you’ll find jackpot progressive slots at almost every good established casino – land-based or online. This is great news if you’re a player, as the more of them there are, the more players. And more players means a higher maximum jackpot thanks to more contributions to it from multiple casinos!
-
Huge selection
Aside from them being everywhere, they also come in every shape and size. A couple of years ago you would only have a handful of progressive slot machine games to choose from, all with boring graphics and the same repetitive gameplay. Now you can get pretty much movie-quality animations and interactive bonus features.
Theme-wise, the creators of these slots have started to really push the boat out. You can find progressive jackpots based on famous movies and tv shows as well as numerous other themes.
-
Other prizes are up for grabs
These slot machines usually don’t just come with one big payout. There are a number of other bonuses on these machines, usually tiered. Even the bottom-tier payout or a smaller jackpot win from these other bonus games will be a nice sum.
Cons of Progressive Jackpot Games
Progressive slots do also come with two downsides to these huge jackpot prizes though:
-
Regular payouts are smaller
To make up for the fact that players can snap up some monster prizes, the payouts are less frequent. Many of these progressive slots work with high volatility, meaning there are less frequent wins but they’re bigger – you’d have better odds with a low-volatility game. This also goes for winning any of the other bonus game rounds on the slot.
-
May need to place a maximum wager to claim the biggest cash prize jackpot
To enable you to win a progressive jackpot, you’re usually going to have to place the max bet of the progressive game. Having to always bet max can eat away at your starting bankroll and mean you have fewer spins on the progressive slot.
Top Jackpot Progressive Games
let’s get into some of the most popular jackpot games you can find at Canadian casinos. You’ll find many players speaking highly of these games and it’s for good reason – they all have great gameplay, huge jackpots and fun themes.
Mega Moolah
Arguably one of the top online slots of all time, let alone one with progressive jackpots, this hit from Microgaming is widely played. This slot machine has spawned the biggest ever jackpots at online casino sites, you can hit the jackpot game on any spin – it’s totally random – but the chances of it happening are increased when you play with the max bet.
When the bonus round is triggered, players get shown a jackpot wheel. the pointer will land on a section of this wheel which will indicate which one of the four jackpots the player has won – three smaller jackpots and the big one. The game also features your standard slot game bonus features such as free spins bonuses on top.
Thanks to its crazy popularity, the jackpot usually grows fast, hitting millions in a short space of time.
Mega Fortune
Another progressive slot machine that’s responsible for some of the biggest jackpots of all time, Mega Fortune comes from developer NetEnt. You can trigger the bonus round by matching 3+ matching bonus symbols in a winning combination to start a spin-the-wheel-based mini-game. It’s from this mini-game you can claim different bonuses and if you manage to line up the arrows to the circles, you snag the biggest jackpot of possibly a million dollars or more.
Hall of Gods
Whilst the first two games may have had a more bland theme, Hall of Gods is a must-play for fans of Nordic mythology. Again coming from NetEnt, Match 3 bonus symbols to get access to the bonus round. This round is a match 3 type of round and if you manage to match 3 of the mega jackpot symbols, you’re the lucky winner of the biggest jackpot! There are also other bonus features to boot.
Progressive Jackpot Slots for Ontario Players
It’s all well and good talking about the exciting progressive slots – but are progressive slots legal in Ontario? Many of the provinces of Canada have different gambling regulation policies and Ontario is one of the newest provinces to overturn regulation and start allowing new Canadian online casinos to operate.
Thankfully there’s a decent range of internet casino operators that have got licenses in Ontario, meaning players can enjoy the constantly growing jackpots of these great games! Simply head over to our online casinos in Ontario page to find which one you like the look of – it’ll most likely have some games in the progressive jackpot category!
Biggest Ever Jackpot Progressive Winnings
As of writing, Mega Moolah holds the crown for the biggest prize ever won on a slot machine. When we say you can win big prizes, we mean it. The winner who managed to get their hands on that biggest ever jackpot walked away a multi-millionaire and won an eye-watering C$25.5 million!
A Canadian player also managed to scoop the second-ever largest win of just over 20 million dollars and Number 3 in terms of big prizes comes from a man in England called Jon Heywood. He managed to hit the big prize jackpot on Mega Moolah which was just over £13 million or 20 million dollars.
The three highest-ever prizes dished out are currently held by Mega Moolah from Microgaming. In fact, the game is currently responsible for 7 of the highest wins of all time, with Mega Joker by NetEnt holding the 3 other spots.
3 Tips For Playing Progressive Jackpot Slots
Now that you’re all clued up on progressive jackpots, the perks of playing them and some of the most popular slots, it’s time to get into some tips for playing. Whilst progressive jackpots are no different from normal slots in the fact they’re heavily based on random chance and luck, there are a few things you can do that can help:
Play with the maximum bet
Many progressive slot games will either increase your odds of getting the jackpot bonus round or only activate the jackpot bonus game when you play with the max bet. You should always read the game rules of the jackpot slot that you’re playing to see how to win the jackpot, but when in doubt you should try to play with a max bet if your bankroll allows.
Choose progressive jackpots that fit your play-style
Different players have different styles and like different themes. You may be a player who prefers to bet smaller amounts more often when playing progressive jackpots – or you may be a high roller who likes to go all in. Take a look at the volatility of the games and match that to your style of play.
Another important aspect is the theme of the slot. Hitting the highest jackpot of a slot may take a while, so you’re going to be playing the game a lot. You need to play a game that you enjoy the look and feel of if you’re going to be playing for an extended amount of time – you don’t want to be getting bored!
Start small
A common strategy is to build your bank balance by accumulating smaller wins on the slot with smaller wagers, then hitting whatever bets you need to make to get the progressive jackpots. This can be quite a good strategy if you’re working with a smaller bankroll – you can snowball your bets into bigger ones, giving you more chances to win the jackpot.
Progressive Jackpot Slot Developers
There are plenty of slot developers and more are popping up every year. But there’s only a handful of them that are putting out the quality progressive jackpot games that everyone knows and loves. These software studios include:
Microgaming: Being the longest-standing developer of online slots, it’s no surprise that Microgaming has produced more progressive slot hits than any other developer.
NetEnt: Another huge name in online slots, NetEnt is only shadowed by Microgaming. NetEnt is renowned for its innovation and unique approach to games and it’s from them you’ll find some of the wackier progressive jackpots.
Playtech: Yet another giant in the industry, Playtech is most well known for giving the players of their games great control over the number of paylines they can play with.
Progressive Jackpot Bonuses & Promotions
To help new players, all online casino sites will give they a welcome bonus to try out the games and get a kickstart to their gaming. You’ll be able to use these bonuses on a range of games, including Progressive slot machines. Some of the most common bonuses that you’ll find include:
Free spins bonuses
With free spins, you’re going to get a set amount of free spins dished out to you for certain games. These games can often include progressive jackpots and can number in the hundreds!
Matched deposits bonus
Match deposits are probably the bonus that most players will see at Canadian online casinos. With this type of bonus, casinos are adding a certain percentage of bonus money on top of however much you deposit.
No-deposit bonuses
rarely you may stumble upon a no-deposit bonus. These will give you some free spins or bonus cash simply for joining the site – no money needed. As you can probably guess, these are quite rare.
Make sure you always thoroughly read through the terms and conditions of any bonus you claim – especially the maximum win that you can take home. If you’re playing progressive slots with your bonus and hit the biggest jackpot, you want to know you can withdraw it all!
Mobile Casino Progressive Jackpot Slots
The online casino industry has moved rapidly to adopt the technology needed to help players enjoy their games on their mobile devices. Progressive jackpots and their bonus games can be enjoyed by both iOS and Android gamers – almost every casino will have responsive technology on their website whilst sporting jackpot games built on HTML5.
if you’re playing progressive slot machines, you want to make sure that even if the online casino has mobile progressive slots, your experience is going to be a positive one. When you pick one of the recommended Canadian online casino sites from our list on this page, you know it’s been thoroughly checked for quality and mobile compatibility.
Other Casino Games
If winning progressive jackpots isn’t quite your thing, there are plenty of other options open to you.
If you’re after the same style of gameplay but want to be in with more of a chance to win smaller amounts, low-volatility slots are the way to go. There are thousands to choose from and pretty much every online casino site sports a wide range.
Live casino software such as live online craps, live casino Baccarat, blackjack and roulette are great if you want a more competitive and strategic casino game. Check out our Canadian live casino page for more info on how to find live casinos with these games.
Finally, if you want to be in with a chance to win huge, life-changing jackpot prizes but don’t want to play slots, then you can find online lotteries or scratchcards. These usually have high payouts whilst switching up the play style.
Progressive Jackpot Slot FAQS
Can I play progressive slots in Canada?
+Yes, you can! plenty of new online casino sites and brands are popping up all over Canada – each fully regulated and with its own selection of progressive slots games.
Are progressive slots fair?
+Any casino we recommend will be fully licensed and have fair games. We triple-check this to make sure players are guaranteed fairness in the games.
Can I play progressive slots for free?
+Whilst some progressive slots have demo modes which allow you to get a feel for the game, on almost all of them you’ll only be able to trigger the jackpot bonus round with the maximum bet of real money.
What triggers the progressive jackpot rounds?
+This varies between progressive slots. Some rely on players winning a bonus game, whilst others will just randomly trigger on a lucky spin!
Erik Jensen is a seasoned gambling expert that has previous worked at one of the largest igaming companies globally. He has also extensive experience working with online casino campaigns for the biggest companies in the world. In the last 5 years Erik has solely been focusing on the Canadian market to give the best up to date news and best casino bonuses available for the Canadian casino players.
