Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Ontario Poker Liquidity Appeal Oct. 7
The court will test whether Ontario’s regulated sites can share poker tables and tournaments with players outside Canada.
The Supreme Court of Canada will hear arguments Wednesday, Oct. 7, on whether Ontario can let users of its regulated online gaming market play and bet with people outside Canada. The appeal, Atlantic Lottery Corporation, et al. v. Attorney General of Ontario, will determine whether that model remains lawful under the Criminal Code.
The case is an Ontario civil appeal as of right. It concerns online gaming and sports betting generally, but the practical stakes are especially clear for poker: Ontario’s ring-fenced market has required players to compete only with others located in the province since its April 2022 launch.
As we reported in September, Ontario and Alberta are seeking to preserve the Court of Appeal ruling that opened the door to cross-border peer-to-peer gaming pools.
Pooled liquidity would combine players across jurisdictions at the same cash tables and in the same tournaments. Ontario’s proposal would permit shared games, cash tables and tournament fields with players in other countries, rather than other Canadian provinces. Ontario players remain restricted to provincial player pools unless the Supreme Court permits the plan.
The province referred the question to the Ontario Court of Appeal on Feb. 2, 2024, under the Courts of Justice Act. A Court of Appeal majority concluded in November 2025 that the proposed model would remain lawful under the Criminal Code. Next.io characterized the decision as a 4-1 ruling.
Justice van Rensburg dissented, finding that the Criminal Code exemption in section 207(1)(a) would not apply to Ontario’s involvement in the international-liquidity element. That provision allows a provincial government to conduct and manage a lottery scheme “in that province.”
Atlantic Lottery Corporation, British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation filed their appeal in December 2025, with Loto-Québec added in April. The lottery corporations argue that the Supreme Court’s 2003 Reference re Earth Future Lottery decision requires provincially licensed lottery schemes to be conducted and managed within provincial geographic boundaries. They also contend that Ontario’s plan would entail cooperation with international operators they say operate unlawfully elsewhere in Canada.
Ontario’s position is that iGaming Ontario would continue to conduct and manage the provincial side of the scheme while contracting with private operators. It argues the territorial restriction prevents provinces from operating in one another’s territory without consent, rather than barring play with users abroad. Ontario also says a regulated international offering could move players away from unlawful sites, reducing exposure to fraud, addiction and other harms while raising public revenue.
Flutter Entertainment, NSUS Group, the Canadian Gaming Association and Alberta are intervening. The appellants and Ontario each have 60 minutes for argument; three industry interveners have 10 minutes apiece, while Alberta has five. The interveners cannot take a position on the appeal’s outcome.
No decision date has been set. Even if the court upholds the Court of Appeal opinion, Ontario would still need a regulatory framework and agreements with international jurisdictions before a licensed poker room could begin pooling players.
