Ontario Superior Court says it's up to the province online games And sports betting sites may legally allow users to play with and bet against people from other countries.
The Ontario Court of Appeal issued its opinion in a 4-1 split decision released today, more than a year after the Ontario government asked it to rule on the issue.
Currently people using online gambling sites must be located within the province and cannot accept games or bets involving people outside the province.
The government's proposed model would allow Ontario players to participate in peer-to-peer gaming, including poker and daily fantasy sports, with other players outside of Canada, according to the ruling.
International players will access the system through various sites and applications and will be subject to the laws and regulations of their jurisdiction.
However, residents of other provinces and territories will continue to be prohibited from using Ontario's online gambling system unless an agreement is reached with those jurisdictions.
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The court says it has concluded that action will be taken to prevent people in the rest of Canada from accessing Ontario sites.
The appeal court says many “practical details” of how the proposed model would work have yet to be determined, including who in the provincial government will choose which international operators or foreign regulators to approach and who will negotiate the deals.
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