The election campaign underway in Quebec may have given the online gambling industry a chance to get its foot in the door.
While there may be other, more pressing issues to debate ahead of the province's Oct. 5 election, both online sports betting and prediction markets have been mentioned on the campaign trail in recent days.
- Quebec’s election has brought online gambling and prediction markets into the political spotlight.
- The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition supports opening the market to more operators, arguing it could generate over $300 million in annual tax revenue.
- PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also endorsed the proposal, suggesting new gambling revenue could fund social programs.
Quebec Liberal Party leader Charles Milliard unveiled several proposed policies on Wednesday, one of which is to “expand the mandate of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (a provincial regulator) so that it can license and oversee all online gambling platforms operating in Quebec.”
Those platforms would be subject to “strict rules regarding advertising, addiction prevention, and the protection of minors,” the Liberals say.
Another proposal is for an independent organization “dedicated to prevention and support for people struggling with gambling addiction, funded by the industry rather than by taxpayers.”
Another poll finds CAQ in second behind the PQ, with Liberals losing support https://t.co/T6aKutXXWD pic.twitter.com/nLm9zuTkXH
— Montreal Gazette (@mtlgazette) August 31, 2026
And then there’s prediction markets. The Quebec Liberals want to task the province's financial and gambling watchdogs “with the joint mandate to fill the regulatory gap surrounding prediction markets, which are currently accessible in Quebec without any regulatory framework.”
Financial regulators from across Canada, including Quebec, recently put their foot down on the subject of prediction markets, and dismissed the idea of authorizing sports-related event contracts for trading. That said, it's possible people in the province are using VPNs or accessing offshore platforms.
Moreover, like other provinces not named Ontario or Alberta, Quebec has only authorized one entity to offer online gambling, the provincially owned Loto-Québec.
So you're telling me there's a bonne chance ...
Yet the Liberal platform suggests that there may be interest in an online Quebec sports betting market similar to those of Ontario and Alberta, the latter of which only launched its competitive iGaming market in July.
Quebec is the second-most populous province in Canada, and remains a tempting target for the online gambling sector. The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition, whose members include BET99, DraftKings, and FanDuel-owner Flutter Entertainment, has been trying to make the case for an Ontario-like market for years.
The governing Coalition Avenir Québec party didn't authorize any private-sector iGaming operators. However, the election campaign currently underway has opened the door to a change in leadership.
“This issue is getting traction,” said Ariane Gauthier, the spokesperson for the online gaming coalition, in an interview with Covers this week.
The coalition believes it has a strong case for more provincially regulated competition in Quebec. It says the province is costing itself more than $300 million in tax revenue annually by sticking to a single-operator model, and points to a 2025 report by research firm Blask that estimated Loto-Québec captures only 17% of online gambling in Quebec.
There are other estimates, however. A recent study done by University of Lethbridge researchers found 79.4% of online gamblers in Quebec used the province's iGaming site in 2025, trailing only the Atlantic provinces with an 88.6% "channelization" rate.
En coulisses de l’émission « Cinq chefs, une élection » qui commence dans quelques instants. Bonne écoute! pic.twitter.com/7Dif4eetKk
— Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (@PaulPlamondon) September 9, 2026
The Quebec Liberals are also running third among voters, recent polling suggests. There is no guarantee the party can gain enough seats to implement its proposed iGaming policies.
Still, they may get help from an unlikely source. Indeed, it appears the idea of licensing and regulating online sports betting companies in Quebec may have fans in the party leading in the polls, the Parti Québécois.
PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said Wednesday during an interview that he would adopt Milliard’s idea. The sovereigntist PQ and federalist Liberals agreeing on something was news itself, but the fact that it was online gambling policy was also noteworthy.
“It’s an excellent idea that might go unnoticed because it’s a bit unconventional, but imagine if we took that $300 million and invested it in addressing homelessness, feeding hungry school children, or tackling learning disabilities – we could make an immediate impact,” St-Pierre Plamondon said (according to a Google translation).
And just the fact that a new approach to provincial iGaming is getting mentioned during the campaign could be a win for the industry.
“The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition is pleased that the election campaign is providing an opportunity to discuss the modernization of the regulatory framework for online gaming,” Gauthier added in a statement on Thursday. “The positions taken by the various political parties demonstrate that a broad consensus is emerging in Quebec in favor of establishing clear rules that must apply equally to both Loto-Québec and private companies offering online gaming.”
