Nova Scotia’s first online casino is now live. On Thursday, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s website quietly launched the province’s first online casino.
CBC’s Michael Gorman first reported the story and quoted the province’s Finance Minister Allan MacMaster:
“We didn’t want to make a big announcement about this. We’re not trying to really promote it.”
Nearly 150 online casino games available now
As of mid-day Friday, the casino was home to nearly 150 games:
- 112 slots games
- 20 table games, including blackjack, roulette, poker and baccarat
- 7 poker games
- 5 video poker games
Second Atlantic province to launch online casino
In 2020, New Brunswick became the first of the four Atlantic provinces to launch an online casino through Atlantic Lotto. In its first year of operation, that casino produced revenue of about $7.3 million.
Reportedly, the Nova Scotia casino — approved by an order in council in February of 2021 — is projected to earn $10 million in its first year.
Last year, the government of Prince Edward Island approved an online casino that has yet to launch.
By comparison, Ontario online gambling, which launched on April 4, currently has 22 live online casinos. Also, 17 more operators are registered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and just need to complete an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario before going live.
One projection has Ontario’s gaming sector grossing more than $8 billion by the end of 2023 and $12.28 billion by the end of 2027.
Safe, regulated site keeps money in Nova Scotia
According to the CBC story, Nova Scotia made the final call to launch the casino in recent days following months of discussions that included extensive conversations about the issue of responsible gambling.
Further, it became evident that many Nova Scotians were already gambling online in the grey market and the best option was to offer a safe, regulated site that would keep some of that gambling money in the province.
The Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation will regulate the online casino.
Province is home to two land-based casinos
Nova Scotia has two main land-based casinos — Casino Nova Scotia in Halifax and Casino Nova Scotia Sydney. The Great Canadian Gaming Corp. operates both facilities.
Casino Nova Scotia Halifax offers 600 slot machines and 28 live table games.
The facility in Sydney has 300 slots and no table games.
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