Ontario waits for more online gambling proposals

It could be awhile yet before Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, joins sisters British Columbia and Quebec in offering online gambling to its residents.

The news emerged this week that the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, which is charged with organising the proposed new provincial venture into internet gambling, has extended its deadline for supplier presentations beyond the original February 3 after receiving only three submissions – reportedly from Amaya Gaming, Openbet and GTechG2, all of which are already well-entrenched in Canada.

Latest reports suggest that at least nine other suppliers are interested in pitching for the OLG business, but were unable to complete their bids by the original deadline. In order to ensure that the province has as wide a choice as possible, the cut-off date has apparently been extended to allow the dilatory outfits to present their products for OLG consideration.

The length of the extension has not been made public, but it will almost certainly push out the eventual launch of any provincial online gambling offering, although officials still expect to achieve this before the end of 2012; it will take time to evaluate each proposal and come up with a short list for more intensive and onsite inspection before a final choice of supplier is made.

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