Canadian Govt. to introduce single sports betting bill

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anada’s Federal Justice Minister David Lametti is expected to introduce legislation as soon as Thursday to legalize single-event sports betting in Canada.

The proposed government legislation, if passed, would allow gamblers to place a bet on the outcome of a single sports game, like a football match or a hockey game. Currently, sports bettors in Canada are limited to “parlay” bets — meaning they have to place bets on more than one game, and pick the winning team in each contest, to see any sort of windfall. The odds of a winning parlay bet are low. Canadians spend roughly $500 million a year on parlay bets through lottery games like Pro-Line, CBC News reports.

MPs from communities with large casinos — notably Windsor and Niagara Falls in Ontario — have been pushing the federal government to remove a single line in the Criminal Code that restricts gambling to parlays to give a boost to Canadian gambling operations, which face increasing pressure from foreign online outfits and U.S. casinos.

Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk said in a Facebook post Wednesday that he’s been “working hard since day one” to push the government to make the necessary Criminal Code changes, which could allow casinos like Caesars Windsor or racetracks like Toronto-based Woodbine to offer enhanced sports wagering. “Excited our government will be introducing single sports betting legislation this week,” he said in the post. “Total team effort.”

Neither Kusmierczyk nor any other MP will see the legislation until it’s tabled and presented in the House for first reading later this week, he said. It will likely go to a second reading next week before going to the committee stage, then the third reading. The bill must be passed by the House and Senate before becoming law. But little opposition is expected, as both the Conservatives and the NDP have supported single-game sports betting in the past.

Paul Burns, the president of Canadian Gaming Association, said he’s happy that years of advocacy work by MPs and local communities finally pushed the government to stem the tide of wagered money moving offshore. “It’s just been a horrendous year for our businesses,” Burns said, adding pandemic-related health and safety measures have devastated in-person gaming at casinos and racetracks. “It doesn’t cost the federal government a thing but it gives us another product, another channel, to help us attract customers back to our businesses when it’s safe to do so.”

There’s already a similar bill from Conservative Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh on the Commons order paper that would make it lawful for a provincially licensed entity to allow betting on a single sporting event or athletic contest. “Implementing this change would be a massive boost to the tourism, sports, and gaming sectors, as well as a significant win for the workers and communities that rely on them,” Waugh said, calling the legalization “common-sense.”

“Though I’m encouraged by the government’s apparent support for this proposal, I remain skeptical of their commitment to making it a priority,” he said, adding he won’t withdraw his private member’s bill just yet to ensure the government proceeds with the amendment.

While provinces and territories control gambling operations in Canada, all operators work within the limits of the federal Criminal Code, which addresses gambling regulations and laws. Burns said the expectation is that the government will simply replicate Waugh’s bill (it’s a single line) in its own legislation. Government legislation is often easier to pass in Parliament than private member’s bills because the government has more levers to pull to get bills through both houses of Parliament in a timely manner.

NDP MP Brian Masse, who represents Windsor West, also introduced a private member’s bill in 2016 that would have made changes similar to those the Liberal government is now considering. The government voted against that legislation, citing major sports leagues’ claim that single-event betting might lead to match-fixing. But that opposition was blunted when sports leagues — including the NBA and NHL — partnered with U.S.-based casino operators like MGM Resorts to bolster sports betting in the U.S.