Every bet on an Ontario-regulated sportsbook must pass the AGCO's Standard 4.34. Minor-league sport in Canada, past events, animal fighting, financial markets and lottery outcomes are out, and events must be supervised by a body that bars insiders.
- Standard covering which bets may be offered
- 4.34
- Penalty per operator for CHL bets, June 20, 2023
- $15,000
- UFC betting halted in Ontario
- December 1, 2022
- Age test for participants, item 4
- majority 18 or older
One standard, fifteen tests
Ontario's regulated sportsbooks work under the AGCO's Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming. Standard 4.34 is not a list of banned sports. It is a set of criteria that every bet must meet, and an operator that offers sport and event betting has to ensure each market passes all of them. When a market is missing in Ontario but visible elsewhere, the reason is usually one of these items.
| No. | Criterion (paraphrased from Standard 4.34) |
|---|---|
| 1 | The outcome can be documented and verified |
| 2 | The outcome is generated by a reliable, independent process |
| 3 | The outcome is not affected by any bet placed |
| 4 | Most participants are 18 or older, assessed across the whole event or league, not a single heat, game or match |
| 5 | A sporting event is effectively supervised by a sport governing body that sets final rules and enforces codes of conduct banning insider betting (not applicable to novelty bets) |
| 6 | Integrity safeguards sufficient to mitigate the risk of match-fixing, cheat-at-play and similar activity |
| 7 | No bets on a past event whose outcome is publicly known |
| 8 | The bet is not reasonably objectionable |
| 9 | No animal fighting or cruelty |
| 10 | No bets on assets and financial markets: stocks, bonds, currencies, real property |
| 11 | No bets that can lose more than the amount wagered |
| 12 | No bets that mimic financial instruments; the guidance names contracts for difference, including spread betting |
| 13 | No synthetic lottery products and no bets on lottery outcomes |
| 14 | The event is conducted in conformity with all applicable laws |
| 15 | No bets on minor league sports in Canada, including the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) |
Junior hockey: item 15 in practice
Item 15 is the one Canadian fans run into most. The CHL is the umbrella for the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and none of their games may be offered in Ontario's regulated market.
The AGCO has enforced this. On June 20, 2023 it announced monetary penalties of $15,000 each against BV Gaming Limited and Fitzdares Canada Limited, $30,000 in total, for allegedly offering numerous bets on OHL, WHL and QMJHL games during the 2022-23 season. The release cites Standard 4.34, paragraph 15, and notes that operators can appeal to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, which is independent of the AGCO.
Item 4 works alongside it. Where most participants in an event or league are under 18, betting is out, and the test looks at the whole event or league rather than one game. Youth tournaments fall here even when they are not Canadian.
No governing body, no market: items 5 and 6
Items 5 and 6 explain the cases where a whole promotion disappears. The question is not whether a sport is popular, but whether someone supervises it, bars insiders from betting and has integrity safeguards in place.
- UFC. On December 1, 2022 the AGCO required operators to stop offering and accepting bets on UFC events, effective immediately. It cited requirements 5 and 6 and said UFC did not prohibit all insiders from betting, naming an athlete's coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, medical professionals and others with access to non-public information. Betting could resume once operators showed the bets met the Standards.
- WBA boxing. In April 2024 Ontario sportsbooks were told to stop taking bets on World Boxing Association events. As reported by Covers, the AGCO reviewed suspicious betting on the length of a WBA title fight, flagged by two independent integrity monitors and an Ontario operator, and found operators could not show that the WBA prohibits betting by insiders or had investigated the allegations.
The pattern is the same in both cases: the AGCO does not ban a sport by name, it finds that the supervision requirement is not met, and the market comes back only when operators can show it is.
Markets that look like betting but are not allowed
Items 10 to 13 close the door on products that are common in other markets:
- Stocks, currencies, bonds, property prices (item 10). A market on where an index closes is a bet on a financial market and is prohibited.
- Spread betting and CFD-style products (items 11 and 12). Anything where you can lose more than your stake, or that mimics a financial instrument, is out.
- Lottery outcomes (item 13). You cannot bet on the result of a lottery draw or on a synthetic lottery product through a sportsbook.
Item 7 rules out bets on a past event whose outcome is publicly known, and item 8 rules out "reasonably objectionable" bets. The guidance under item 8 includes events that are unethical, that offer entertainment from human suffering or death, or that involve non-consensual violence or injury. Item 9 adds a flat ban on animal fighting or cruelty.
What this means for you as a bettor
- A missing market is not a glitch. If CHL games, a fight promotion or a financial market is absent, check it against the table above before contacting support.
- A market can disappear mid-season. The UFC order took effect immediately. Read the operator's rules on how open bets are settled when a market is withdrawn.
- The same brand may show more elsewhere. A sportsbook that offers junior hockey outside Ontario is not offering it in Ontario's regulated market, and the AGCO has shown it will penalize that.
- Complaints go through the operator first. If a regulated sportsbook takes a bet it should not have, or voids one, start with its complaints process.
Our Ontario guide covers the regulated sites, and the Canada-wide list shows the wider picture.
This article paraphrases the published Standard; read the full text on the AGCO site before relying on any single item.
Questions readers ask
Why can't I bet on OHL games in Ontario?
Standard 4.34, item 15, prohibits bets on minor league sports in Canada, including the CHL, whose leagues are the OHL, WHL and QMJHL. The AGCO penalized two operators $15,000 each for offering them.
Why did UFC disappear from my sportsbook in 2022?
On December 1, 2022 the AGCO required operators to stop taking UFC bets because UFC did not bar all insiders, such as coaches and managers, from betting, as items 5 and 6 of Standard 4.34 require.
Can I bet on the stock market or a lottery draw on an Ontario sportsbook?
No. Items 10 and 13 of Standard 4.34 prohibit bets on assets and financial markets and bets on lottery outcomes.
Are novelty bets subject to the insider-betting rule?
Item 5's requirement for a governing body that bans insider betting is stated as not applicable to novelty bets. The other criteria, such as a verifiable outcome, still apply.
Sources
This explainer is general information about Canadian rules, not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and agency policies change; check the source documents or ask a professional before you rely on them.
