AGCO Deadline For The Unregulated Expires

Back in late September/early October, the AGCO announced that they will be setting a deadline for all unregulated operators in Ontario. If they don’t meet the requirements they set by the specified deadline, they risk losing a chance to ever apply for a regulated licence in Ontario. 

This deadline was set for the 31st October 2022 and that has now come and gone. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) gave plenty of time to unregulated operators to comply with the new changes they made to their Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming. These changes were made in order to create a safer environment for Ontario players when using their favourite online casinos in the province. 

This transition period allowed for unregulated gaming brands to move to the regulated market in a legal and appropriate manner. Those who have not taken advantage of this transition period have, likelier than not, lost their chances of applying for an Ontario gaming licence from the AGCO. 

Since we are now past the deadline, the AGCO have every right to take legal action against any unregulated operators still advertising/functioning in the market.  The main change that occurred was in Standard 1.22 which was amended to state that the transition period would be over on the 31st October 2022.

Here are the main changes made to the registrar that are now being enforced: 

1. Standard 4.35 – Access to live dealer gaming supplies shall be restricted to individuals with a business need. (AGCO, 2022)
2. Standard 4.36 – Operators must have controls in place to ensure live dealer game presenters do not compromise the integrity of a game. (AGCO, 2022)
3. Standard 4.08 – All igaming games, random number generators and components of igaming systems that accept, process, determine outcome of, display, and log details about player bets, including any subsequent modifications, must either be approved by the Registrar or certified by an independent testing laboratory registered by the Registrar, as per the AGCO’s ITL Certification Policy, prior to being provided for any gaming site. (AGCO, 2022)

Top Online Casinos in Ontario

Here are some of the leading online Ontario casinos that are currently fully licensed and regulated by the AGCO:

1. bet365
2. BetMGM
3. BetRivers
4. PlayOJO
5. PokerStars

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Author

Kayleigh

Casino Content Writer

Kayleigh is a casino content writer for the Canadian market. Before working on this market, Kayleigh was writing for the general US market and further specialised in the Pennsylvania market. Now, she brings her knowledge and experience to the Ontario market! She’s been working as a writing professional for the last decade, and she’s dedicated to bringing you practical tips, right at your fingertips.