In this episode of The iGaming Show, we focus on Alberta’s upcoming iGaming market, opportunities for operators entering the market, insights into the province and its player base, and what the industry can expect moving forward.

Guest: Brandon Aboultaif, VP of Western Canada at the Canadian Gaming Association

The iGaming Show, presented by Paramount Commerce, is a podcast that will analyse gaming industry trends with experts from various gaming organizations.

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Full episode transcript:

Varad Mehta: The launch of Alberta's iGaming market is coming up very soon, and to better understand what the market looks like, as well as what the player base is and what benefits it offers to operators, we are joined by Brandon Aboultaif, the VP of Western Canada at the Canadian Gaming Association. So without further ado, let's get the show rolling.

So Brandon, how we always begin this podcast is by asking you a few fun questions. I have two quick ones for you. My first one is that your father has been an MP for more than a decade now, but he was also a labourer who then became a business owner. So what has his story taught you so far, and how has it shaped you as a person?

Brandon Aboultaif: That’s a great question. I love that. I always say that my dad is the perfect example of the Canadian dream. He came here with about 100 dollars in his pocket. He was delivering pizzas, he was mopping floors, and eventually got his way into the furniture business. He was actually selling school furniture for a long time until he decided to get involved in politics.

Now he’s advocating for his passions, one of them being organ donation, and he’s trying to change the world one day at a time. I’m incredibly proud of him. It’s taught me a lot about how I want to grow up. Obviously, I want to be just like him—maybe not in politics, but in other ways.

VM: Love it. And what a great time to speak to you, Brandon, because there have been multiple reports that Alberta's iGaming industry, the regulated iGaming industry, is opening up in July. I’m so happy I caught you at this exciting time. So let’s kick off with the first question. What excites you most about Alberta's upcoming regulated iGaming market? You’ve been part of Minister Dale Nally's team, and now you’re at the Canadian Gaming Association. From your perspective, what is it about Alberta that is so exciting?

BA: As you mentioned, it’s a very pivotal moment in iGaming across the country. Alberta is going to be the second province to have a regulated market, and I think the biggest thing is that Alberta has an opportunity to bring a lot more structure and oversight into a space that has already been growing for years.

They’re bringing things like stronger consumer protections, responsible gaming tools, and clear standards for operators. I think it’s going to be a great regulated environment. We’ve seen how other jurisdictions have gone through this process, so the greatest thing is that they have a better understanding of what works well, what challenges came up along the way, and what actually drives players into a regulated market long term.

VM: Yeah, I love that. And from your perspective, what is the advantage—the Alberta advantage—for operators? For Ontario, it was the first province that opened up in Canada on a regulated premise. But what is it about Alberta that is really luring for operators?

BA: I’ll put my old politics hat on, but Alberta is honestly the economic engine of Canada. They lead the country in lowest taxes, economic growth, and creating an environment where businesses can actually thrive and invest with confidence. Time and time again, every year, they get recognised for being the best in the country at cutting red tape.

They’re really good at making it easier for businesses to operate, expand, and set up shop in the province. From an industry perspective, it’s not hard to see why Alberta is viewed as such a major opportunity.

On top of that, the government has taken setting up this market very seriously. They’ve done a lot of due diligence, a lot of consultation, and a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure this is built in a thoughtful and sustainable way.

It’s also significant that a large portion of the market is already active online today, just in unregulated spaces. They’re not entering a market where they need to introduce consumers to online gaming for the first time. The demand already exists, the player base already exists, and consumers are already highly familiar with these products and platforms.

So it’s always been an incredibly attractive market. They’ve got a young and growing population, strong household incomes, and an incredibly strong sports culture—go Oilers. Those fundamentals are already incredibly attractive.

VM: I love that. And that ties into my next question. Could you explain from your perspective what the player base looks like in Alberta and what the current gaming landscape is right now? You have only the Alberta online gaming site that players can use. But what is the player base looking like in Alberta?

BA: As you mentioned, it’s already a pretty mature gaming environment overall. We’ve got a strong land-based casino sector, a great charitable gaming model, a lot of sports betting interest, and growing participation online.

The biggest thing people need to understand is that Alberta already has a large online gaming market today, even before regulation. A significant amount of online play is already happening through unregulated or grey‑market platforms. I don’t think Alberta is unique in that regard; the same thing is happening across much of Canada.

The demand for these products already exists and consumers have already found ways to access them. So the conversation around Alberta is about bringing an already existing market into regulation.

That said, it’s a mature and highly active gaming market—very young, very high income—and now they’re moving towards a more responsible and structured regulated market for consumers.

VM: And what sort of learnings, Brandon, did they take from Ontario? I think consumer protection was one of the big ones. Were there any other model or framework elements that Alberta took from Ontario as inspiration?

BA: We spent a lot of time looking at every single piece of the model. I don’t want to get too into the weeds, but Ontario has been a great partner in all of this—walking us through what went wrong, what could have been done better.

We went into this with the mindset that we need to do this, and we need to do it better if we can. We also wanted to include every stakeholder and do a lot of consultation. We wanted to make sure nobody was missed in the process. I think it’s going to culminate in something great. Ontario has done a fantastic job, and we want to live up to that as well.

VM: For sure. When I spoke to Minister Dale Nally, he reiterated that same idea as well. What are some of the key priorities for building a really good, sustainable market in Alberta? What are your top tips?

BA: There’s a lot of conversation going on across the country, but first and foremost, responsible gaming and consumer protection have to be at the centre of every conversation. As I mentioned, online gaming already exists; people are already participating. What really needs to happen is that a regulated market makes this environment safer, more transparent, and better monitored for consumers.

We need strong standards around age verification, self‑exclusion tools, player education, and support systems for people who might be experiencing harm. These are all critical pieces of a successful framework.

It’s also important to recognise that consumer protections are most effective when players are actually in the regulated iGaming market. If the market isn’t competitive or attractive to consumers, people will continue using unregulated platforms, where many of those protections don’t exist.

So the priority is about keeping that balance—making sure the market is competitive enough to attract players while maintaining strong safeguards and responsible gaming standards across the board.

VM: And my last question would be: what do you hope Alberta's iGaming market will achieve in its first few years, or even just the first year?

BA: Ontario has led the way, but I’d like to see Alberta become known as a market that found the right balance. You want strong consumer protections, strong gaming standards, high participation, high channelization, and an environment where operators feel confident investing and innovating long term.

This is a pivotal moment for the country. Ontario started it, Alberta has followed, and now there’s an opportunity to influence the broader conversation in Canada. Other provinces are paying close attention to how these two markets develop, especially around channelization, regulation, and long‑term sustainability.

If Alberta can be successful—show that you can build a market that is very competitive, well regulated, and sustainable at the same time—I think that would be a great outcome and could catalyse a bigger conversation across the country.

VM: Love it. Thank you, Brandon. I know the launch date is coming up really soon, within a month or two. I’m happy I caught you at the right moment so you could provide operators with a glimpse into what Alberta's iGaming market will look like. Even for suppliers and affiliates who are associated with Alberta, this will be a great lesson for them to take away. So thank you so much for this.

BA: As someone from Alberta, I’m extremely thankful. It’s been a wonderful journey. We’ve worked long and hard on this, and it’s exciting to see it finally culminate in a full market. It’s going to be great. We’re all very excited, and we hope to see you in Alberta sometime.

VM: One hundred percent. It’s been such a hot topic for a year or two now—everyone has been wanting to say, “Let’s go, it’s finally happening.” Thank you to everyone who’s been working on this, and thank you, Brandon, for explaining it today.

BA: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

VM: Whether it’s the tax benefits, the responsible gambling measures, or the already existing player base, Alberta is ready to launch its iGaming market. I want to thank our guest for today, Brandon Aboultaif, the VP of Western Canada at the Canadian Gaming Association, for joining us and providing his expertise.

If you have any questions for us or Brandon, please comment them down below. Please like and share this episode and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. For the episode transcript, please visit paramountcommerce.com.

Thank you so much for tuning into The iGaming Show presented by Paramount Commerce. I’m your host, Varad Mehta, and until next time, keep gaming.

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