TLDR
- The Parti Québécois won Quebec’s Oct. 5 election with 59 seats, five short of a majority, after campaigning on a private iGaming market.
- The Liberals, now the Official Opposition with 40 seats, also backed a private online gambling model.
- Loto-Québec currently runs the only legal online gambling platform in the province.
- A study estimates 73% of Quebec online play happens in unregulated channels, costing about CAD $2.3 billion in gross gaming revenue.
- Industry leaders say Quebec must first create an independent regulator, and the process will not be fast.
Quebec has taken a step toward opening its online gambling market to private companies. The Parti Québécois won the provincial election on Oct. 5 after campaigning on a regulated, competitive iGaming market.
The PQ won 59 seats, five short of a majority government. The Quebec Liberal Party took 40 seats and will form the Official Opposition.
Both parties promised during the campaign to move toward a private iGaming model. Right now, Loto-Québec, a state-owned Crown corporation, runs the only legal online gambling platform in the province.
Industry Groups Respond to Quebec Election Result
The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC) represents major operators including DraftKings, Flutter, Entain, Betway, Bet99, Rush Street and Apricot. Spokesperson Ariane Gauthier said the election brings new leadership with a different view on online gaming.
She noted that PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon congratulated the Liberal leader for announcing the plan first. Gauthier said the reform is “gathering a large consensus” and can be put forward by the new government.
Troy Ross, president of TRM Public Affairs, represents private iGaming operators. He said the PQ and Liberals together hold more than enough seats to pass legislation and launch a model.
During the campaign, the Liberals proposed expanding the mandate of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ). The regulator would license and oversee all online gambling platforms, with strict rules on advertising, addiction prevention and consumer protection. The PQ told Radio-Canada it would take a similar approach.
Quebec iGaming Market Size and the Ontario Model
A private-sector study this summer estimated Quebec’s total addressable iGaming market for 2026 at CAD $3.09 billion. Only 27% of play happens in regulated channels, according to the study.
That leaves 73% of play in the unregulated market. The study estimated this results in about CAD $2.3 billion in lost gross gaming revenue.
Loto-Québec has claimed that 81% of Quebec online players use its platform. A 2023 Mainstreet Research study released by the QOGC found that 73% of surveyed players chose private platforms for sports betting and casino games.
The same survey found that 72% of players using Loto-Québec’s Espacejeux platform use it only to buy lottery tickets.
Ontario opened its private iGaming market in April 2022. It now has 49 licensed operators running 84 websites, and the market generated CAD $4.04 billion in non-adjusted gross gaming revenue in 2025. Alberta launched its own private market in July with 36 live websites.
Amanda Brewer, senior vice president at the Canadian Gaming Association, said Loto-Québec is not currently regulated by the RACJ. She said the province would need to set up a regulator and likely a “conduct and manage” entity similar to iGaming Ontario.
“I wouldn’t use ‘fast’ to describe anything that happens next in Quebec,” Brewer said. Gauthier also said finding the right approach “will take time.”
Gauthier said Quebec must still decide what rules to adopt. It must also choose which independent body will regulate all operators, including Loto-Québec.
Loto-Québec did not respond to a request for comment from Casino.org. Meanwhile, St-Pierre Plamondon said at an Oct. 6 news conference that he is already pushing ahead with several key initiatives from the campaign.
