Canadian gambling guides: start here

The guides are built around the questions Canadian players put to us most. New to online casinos? Already playing? The offer and slots guides unpack the fine print that decides what a promotion or a game is really worth.

None of the sites our Play buttons open is on iGaming Ontario's list of regulated sites.

Six checks before you sign up anywhere

Whatever you intend to play, a short routine heads off most trouble. The first run-through takes about ten minutes, and it gets quicker each time.

1. Know your province's rules. Where you live sets the legal age and how online gambling is provided. If you are in Ontario, look up iGaming Ontario's list of regulated sites first; our guide to Ontario versus the other provinces walks you through it.
2. Read the address bar. Once you have clicked through to a casino, look at the web address. If a link meant for one brand lands on another, shut the tab.
3. Play in Canadian dollars. A CAD account spares you currency conversion on every deposit and every cash-out.
4. Look inside the cashier first. Review the deposit list and the withdrawal list, and make a note of any limits. Our deposits and withdrawals guide explains the usual options.
5. Read the offer terms or say no. Wagering, game weighting, the maximum stake and the expiry date decide an offer's real value. You can always turn it down.
6. Put a deposit limit in place. Set it in your account before the first deposit rather than after a session goes badly.

What a BetNook review contains

Reviews cover welcome offers, games, support and payments. For the four featured brands, they include Canadian pricing and Interac details. The sixteen Casino Rewards partner reviews explain how each welcome offer is structured.

A short glossary

Wagering requirement. How much you have to bet before bonus funds become withdrawable, normally expressed as a multiple of the bonus. Our welcome offers guide covers it.

RTP, short for return to player. The portion of all stakes a game is built to return over a very long run. It says nothing dependable about a single session, as our guide to real money slots explains.

Volatility. The pattern of a game's payouts: frequent small wins or rarer large ones. It affects how fast a budget can go, not the built-in margin.

KYC, meaning know your customer. The identity checks a casino carries out before it pays you. Sending your documents early helps avoid a held withdrawal.

Chances. A welcome format some Casino Rewards sites use, played on a jackpot-style game rather than paid as bonus cash.

Self-exclusion. Asking to be barred from gambling for a fixed period, either at a single casino or through a provincial programme. Our gambling help guide explains the options.

iGaming Ontario versus the AGCO. The pair behind Ontario's regulated market: iGaming Ontario manages it, while the AGCO regulates it.

If you only read a few guides

Start with your money. The guide to deposits and withdrawals explains how funding and cashing out work, and the Interac casinos guide covers the method most Canadians rely on. Ontario residents should read how Ontario differs from other provinces before anything else, since the province keeps its own list of registered sites.

Before accepting any promotion, read our welcome offers guide. Before playing at all, settle on a budget; the gambling help page describes the tools and lists free, confidential support in every province. For games and betting, see real money slots, phone and tablet play and online sportsbooks.