The trend amongst Canadian provinces for provincial lottery organisations to launch online gambling services was disrupted this week by the announcement this week from The Atlantic Lottery Corporation that it will not be offering internet gambling to the residents of the five provinces that it serves, namely; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
It is not yet known whether The Atlantic Lottery made this decision unilaterally or whether it presented a proposal which was rejected by the provinces concerned.
Earlier this year the provinces of Quebec and British Columbia announced their intention to enter the online gambling sector with British Columbia, the first off the mark with its Playnow.com site. The province of Ontario is still considering the possibilities but it is likely that it will decide to launch internet gambling as well.