Best Online Casinos

Best Online Casinos Canada

Welcome to our little guide on the best online casinos in Canada. Finding the best online casino shouldn’t have to be a bore. However, the gaming industry provided us with way too many online casinos, both good ones and bad ones. We’ll pick the good from the bad, tell you what’s what and pass the savings on to you. So, bro, let us show you how we work our magic.

Can You Play for Real Money in Canadian Online Casinos?

Yes. Even though we live in an age where everyone does everything over the internet, some people still can’t fathom that they can win real money by playing in Online Canadian Casinos. Well, just like playing at any land-based casino, winning money in online casinos is entirely possible.

As long as you choose a proper Canadian online casino (one that’s legit and licensed) you will have a chance to walk away with more than you can in with. There are a few key differences between online and land-based casinos but the gist is pretty much the same.

Canadian casino history and licensing

How ‘bout a real quick history lesson about Canadian casinos. Once upon a time, when online casinos just appeared out of nowhere, it was a bit of a mess. No online gambling laws existed and people were getting scammed left and right. Thankfully, those days are over and today we have a ton of gambling laws and licenses. Sure, some of these may prevent us from having as much fun as we would like but the majority of them are there to make sure we don’t get scammed.

Now, when it comes to online casinos in Canada, it gets a bit weird. See, according to Canadian gambling laws, online casinos aren’t allowed to operate within Canada. But nowhere in the law does it say that Canadian players are forbidden to play. Technically, you are able to play at any online casino gambling site as long as the online casino isn’t located in Canada.

Canadian gambling laws are fully aware that this is an issue and are working on a solution. Until a solution is reached, Canadian players are more than welcome to play at any online casino outside of Canada, and there’s a lot of them, bro.

Best Real Money Online Casinos Canada

Note that we say CASINOS and not CASINO. This is because the term the best online casino simply doesn’t exist. When it comes to real money online casino games, everyone has their own preferences. Many prefer slots, while others like to play live dealer games or classic casino games. This is exactly why there are so many online casinos out there. Let’s not kid ourselves, they all want your money, however, each one is going to do something different in order to get your attention.

This can be a more generous bonus, a bigger library of games, a better VIP system or something else. Either way, since the best online casinos do not exist, we can help you in locating the top online casinos that cater to YOUR needs.

How To Open A Casino Account?

Opening a casino account is a bit more difficult than opening a social media account. Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through the entire process, step-by-step so that you can enjoy your favourite gambling site as soon as possible. We’ve broken down the process into 6 parts:

#1 Choose a licensed casino

Always choose a licensed casino. Even though we talked a little bit about gambling laws in Canada, those only apply to licensed online casinos. Malta Gaming Authority and United Kingdom Gambling Commission are the most frequent regulators you’ll find, but there are other more local names, too, such as the Kahnawake Gambling Commission.

An unlicensed casino doesn’t have to follow any gambling laws. In fact, nothing is stopping them from taking your money and keeping it without letting you play casino games. Simply put, unlicensed casinos are scams, simple as that. The most efficient way of confirming whether or not a casino is licensed is through websites like ours.

#2 Registration at a casino

Okay, so the casino is licensed and everything seems to be in order. Time to create that account, bro. Not that it needs to be mentioned but, you will need an active email address. You will also need to punch in your day of birth, name and surname and select a password for your account.

Now, depending on the type of online casino you want to play at, they may also ask for your payment details at this point. Usually, you can do this after you’ve already created an account. If they don’t, you will simply need to navigate to your account page and punch in the deets yourself. Once you put in all those details, you should receive a confirmation email where you will confirm the account and you should be good to go.

#3 Claim welcome bonus

In the world of online casinos, it’s silly to open an account and not take advantage of the 1st deposit bonus. Every self-respecting online casino out there will offer some sort of bonus offer to thank you for your time and money. Depending on the online casino, you’ll either have to activate them manually or they will automatically activate. We highly recommend you read our guide on signup bonuses (welcome bonuses) so that you know which are good and which aren’t.

#4 Enjoy playing casino games

You got an account, you deposited your money and you claimed your bonus. Time to have some fun. Go nuts and play all your favourite games like there’s no tomorrow.

#5 Claim your bonus

While you enjoy yourself, keep an eye out for other bonuses too. Why stop at just the first deposit bonus. Claim the rest of the welcome bonuses (if they are available) and claim any other deposit match bonuses that might interest you. Just make sure that they are actually, you know, reachable. A bonus with super-high wagering requirements is like throwing your money down the toilet.

#6 Claim your winnings

Let’s assume that luck was on your side and that you actually managed to make a profit. First of all, great job, bro. Time to withdraw your winnings. Unlike depositing your funds, withdrawing them is a bit more complicated. For one, it always lasts longer than advertised (don’t panic if your withdrawal is late for a day or two, it happens).

Also, you’ll probably have to provide the casino with some additional details. They may also wish to contact you directly to confirm your identity. Don’t worry though, these are all standard procedures that prevent cheating.

How We Rate the Best Online Casinos in Canada

Again, there’s no such thing as THE best online casino sites. Some do things better than others, sure, but none of them will do everything perfectly. When it comes to rating online casinos, we take many things into consideration, so let’s take a quick look at what are the makings of the Best Online Casino Canada.

Welcome bonuses

Almost every single online casino in Canada will have a welcome bonus and it’s in your best interest to claim it. A generous welcome bonus usually consists of one or more deposit bonuses. These will include things like a 100% match bonus and free spins. What will always differ are the wagering requirements. Please pay attention to these, bros. If a bonus sounds too good to be true, it usually is, and more often than not, the reason for it will be the wagering requirements.

Game variety

What good are casino bonuses if there’s nothing fun to play? Out of all the best online casinos in Canada, every single one will have a huge amount of online slots, more than you can ever play, in fact. While slot games are fun and all, they simply aren’t enough. An online casino should also have video poker, table games, live casino games, you name it. It’s actually a good idea to scout out the game selection even before you create an account, just so you have an idea of what kind of top online casino game you can expect. The best casino sites will always offer you more than just slot games.

Customer support

One of our favourite parts of every casino review and one of the most important parts of any casino in general. If an online casino has a lousy customer service team, then you’ll be forgiven for avoiding that casino at all costs. In the world of online gambling, accidents can and will happen. Heck, even the best online gambling sites are no match to the power of regional Internet disconnection. This is exactly why customer support is so important.

You’ll want to know what will happen to your money once a disconnection happens. You may also just need some information about casino bonuses or to request a new VIP rank. Either way, many of these can be done through customer support. A general rule of thumb is that all online casino sites should have 24/7 live chat support. Email support is slow and unreliable, so don’t settle for it. Needless to say, many online casino sites have lost precious points because they decided to cut back on customer support.

Other bonuses and promotions

Even some of the best online casinos think that once they hook the player in with the welcome bonus, no further bonuses are needed. Wrong! The actual best online casinos will always have something to keep the players engaged. Once the welcome bonuses come and go, players should have access to reload bonuses. While these usually aren’t as generous as the welcome bonuses, they should be pretty similar. Again, always make sure to check the wagering requirement for each of these bad boys. In our online casino reviews, casinos that only offer a welcome bonus don’t score much in terms of welcome bonuses.

Jackpots

Jackpots exist in a realm of their own. While you technically need a casino account to play them, casinos will not usually associate with them. You won’t find bonuses or special promotions for many jackpot games but you will still be able to play them. That said, top casinos can make the whole process a little better for jackpot fans. For example, we really like when casinos show a little label that shows the exact jackpot amount even before we click on the game. Of course, more jackpot games means more opportunities to win big, so the amount plays a good role too.

Safety and security

Back in the dark ages of the Internet (early 2000’s) you couldn’t look left or right without getting a virus, malware or simply getting hacked. Thankfully those days are over and such things happen less frequently. However, that doesn’t mean that these things are gone for good, bro. A casino can still get hacked and your money may just find its way into a hacker’s wallet. Because of this, it’s in your best interest to check what kind of security a casino has. Most online casinos will have some sort of data encryption technology such as SSL, so if you see one of these, you should be in safe hands.

Deposit and withdrawal methods

What good is a real money casino site if you aren’t able to deposit real money? Oh, we’ve seen our share of online casino sites that seem perfect only to find out that they only accept bank transfers as a withdrawal method. Most real money online casinos will accept credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard and e-wallets like Skrill and Neteller. Why stop there, though? Casinos can also accept cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and others.

Keep in mind that just because a casino accepts a type of payment method for depositing, that doesn’t mean that they will accept it for withdrawing too. Make sure to check and see which type of payment methods are accepted for both deposits and withdrawals before you make a deposit. Again, you don’t want to end up with Bank Transfer being the only withdrawal method. We like to take these things very seriously by checking everything from the minimum deposit to the nitty-bitty details in the T&C. Oh, and make sure to check the withdrawal limits, too.

User experience

While not the deciding factor, the user experience is still a very important factor. Here we rate how easy it is to find everything on the website, how the games work, how navigating feels, yadda, yadda, yadda. Believe us, some casinos sites don’t realize that it can be frustrating to click a million times before you find the card games. We also check the website’s overall stability from both desktop and mobile devices.

How to Find the Latest Casino Bonuses For Canadian Players

Okay, bros, let’s dive a bit deeper into those bonuses. Because there are so many online casinos out there, it’s not a bad idea to simply go for the one with the best bonuses that complement your play style. Finding bonuses on the casino site is super. In fact, you’ll be lucky to find an online casino site that doesn’t shove them in your face. All bonuses are usually located on the Promotions/Bonus categories on each website.

Now, while many of these might seem appetizing, it’s important to understand each of them. Also note, it’s not uncommon that bonus funds are only good for slot games. You may be able to use them for table games or live dealer games but note that their will have different wagering contributions (usually only 10%, and this means more wagering is required)

Deposit bonuses

Deposit bonuses will usually give you a match bonus for your deposit. These are arguably the most popular casino bonuses. They usually have a 100% match bonus on your deposit (so, if you deposit C$20 you can play with C$40). Now, it’s important to note that what these bonuses give you isn’t extra money, but rather, bonus money. This bonus money needs to be wagered a certain amount of times before it turns into real money. Depending on the wagering requirements these bonuses can either be awesome or suck.

Free spins bonuses

Free spins (a.k.a bonus spins or extra spins) work similarly to deposit bonuses. Instead of getting the same amount of bonus money that matches your deposit, you will get a certain number of free spins that you can use on a certain slot game. Just like deposit bonuses, free spins bonuses have their own wagering requirements. Simply put, any amount that you may win from the free spin rolls, needs to be wagered a certain amount of times. The wagering requirements are usually lower than those of deposit bonuses.

No deposit bonuses

Ahh, the fabled no deposit bonuses. These bonuses have almost become extinct in the world of gambling online. Heck, even some of the best online casinos don’t offer no deposit bonuses. But those that do, no deposit bonuses let players make a few spins or use a small amount of bonus money on a few games without the need to deposit anything.

You can see why casinos don’t like these, can you? Now, before you go to our no deposit bonuses to look for the best one, just remember, a no deposit bonus usually has the worst wagering. They’re almost impossible to meet and even if you do manage, the rewards usually aren’t worth it. Think of no deposit bonuses as an advanced demo mode for casino games.

Cashback bonuses

When luck just isn’t on your side, cashback bonuses come to the rescue. These, normally automatic, bonuses will give you back a certain amount of your losses in form of bonus money. This isn’t a huge amount (normally about 10% of your losses) and it does come with its own wagering. Think of this as a tap on the shoulder from the casino itself telling you not to give up.

Wagering Requirements and Fair T&Cs

Now that we know the types of bonuses out there, it’s time to address the elephant in the room – the wagering requirements. If you’ve never heard of these things before reading this, that means that the online casinos are doing a great job of hiding them from you.

Simply put, these exist so you don’t claim a 100% match bonus and withdraw everything without ever gambling. At least, that’s what the casinos claim they do. In reality, these things are there to prevent you from getting your bonus. This is why we always stress how important it is to check the wagering requirements before you claim a bonus. Most real money casinos will show you the wagering underneath the bonuses which others won’t.

Always check the wagering requirements for each bonus. Look for them next to the latest casino bonuses, underneath them or in the T&C. According to gambling laws, all licensed online casinos are required to disclose the wagering on their site, but it doesn’t say that they don’t have to bury them deep in the T&C. Fortunately for you, bro, you’ve got us, and we are more than happy to do the digging for you.

Best Gambling and Casino Games

Whether you play casino games to make a buck or for the sheer excitement, casinos are nothing without them. No matter what kind of casino games you like, there’s probably something out there for you. Here are some of the most popular casino games:

Online poker

Used to be that bars were filled with video poker machines with players aggressively bashing those plastic buttons, hoping for a win. Nowadays, you can do the same thing from your home and without sitting next to that guy who’s about to break the video poker machine. While they aren’t the most popular online casino games, most online casinos will have a couple of these babies. Note that most online casinos will not give any bonuses for video poker games since skill plays a big part.

Online Slots

If you just want to play slots, you can find slots sites everywhere. It’s almost a mandatory rule that every single online casino site needs to have at least 80% of its gaming library dedicated to online slots. Yup, there’s plenty of them out there. We know them, you know them and casinos love them since they are almost entirely luck-based. Just deposit some money, hit that spin button and enjoy the pretty lights.

Blackjack

The noble art of blackjack has been around for centuries. Do you hit or do you stay? Whatever you decide, know that almost every single casino will have, at least, a couple of blackjack games that you can play against an AI. Since blackjack is also a skill-based game, the wagering contributions will be different than those of slot games, so keep that in mind.

Roulette

Many of us here at the office think that Roulette is, by far, the best casino game to play. It can cater to those who like to play it safe and to those that like to live dangerously. Let that ball spin and hope it doesn’t land on 0 (again). Just like blackjack, roulette has plenty of strategies that players can use so the wagering contributions will always be lower than online slots.

Live dealer

If playing classic table games against an AI just isn’t exciting enough for you, then live dealer games are the way to go. With live dealer games, you will play real money games against other real players and, more importantly, against a live dealer. Playing live dealer games is the closest you can ever get to imitating a real land-based casino experience. Needless to say, since almost all live dealer games are skill-based, the wagering requirement is going to be lower.

Sports betting

While we don’t necessarily cover any sports betting, it’s worth noting that many online casinos also host some sports betting options. Same as casino games, sports betting has its own range of bonuses and wagering. Players who wish to take a break from gambling won’t always need to make a new account to enjoy sports betting.

Progressive jackpots

Progressive jackpot slots are in a league of their own. While on paper they play the same as regular slots, these bad boys collect winnings from all players and from all the casinos they are available at. This means that the jackpot can be quite juicy. These high risk and very high reward games are perfect for those of us who like to live on the edge

What is the Best Game Development Software?

When you peruse the game libraries of a certain casino site, you may start to wonder how there can be so many slot games? We are talking about thousands and thousands of real money games. You may have already realized this but many of these titles are very similar to one another but that doesn’t mean that all of them are the same.

Simply put, it boils down to the software providers who made the game. Once the programmers create an approved and licensed algorithm for their game software, they can basically slap whatever theme they want on it and call it a day. So rather than looking for your favourite theme, it may be a good idea to learn about some famous game providers and learn how they make their magic.

Playtech

Playtech was a company founded way back in 1999. This company has dipped their toes into everything gambling-related, including sports betting. Because of all their achievements, they have earned the title “Best iGaming Software Provider”.

Microgaming

Even though there are many software providers that make great casino games, few can say that they were the first. Microgaming (established in 1994) paved the way for the rest of software providers by diving headfirst into the world of online gaming. Thanks to their reputation, you can often find their games in plenty of Canadian Online Casinos.

Net Entertainment

Easily one of the most popular software providers thanks to their hit titles like “Gonzo’s Quest”, Net Entertainment games have always stood out among the rest by having extremely high RTP (return-to-player) with a whopping 99%.

International Game Technology

International Game Technology (IGT) is known for making very flashy games that are really pleasing to the eye. It also helps that these developers are very generous with their RTP sitting in between 95% and 97.3%.

Novomatic

Novomatic is best known for its classic Gorilla slot with an RTP of 97.1%. These developers have been in the business for years and know how things should work. Their games may be simple but they are created with a lot of love and with the players in mind.

Mobile Casinos in Canada

Even though playing casino games on a mobile device used to be a dream 10 years back, nowadays mobile casinos are a given. If you are worried about online casinos not working on your iPhone or Android, don’t be. Not only are online casinos optimized to run on any mobile browser (thanks to HTML5) but they can work flawlessly even on older phones. While numerous online casinos used to have their own dedicated apps which made the casino experience smoother. Today, there simply isn’t a need for casino apps because of how well they work from a phone’s browser.

New Online Casinos in Canada

We have a love-hate relationship with brand new online casinos in Canada. Every day a new casino pops up somewhere. While it’s very healthy to have some doubt about the new kids on the block, allow us to reassure you that we are all over it. Should a new casino appear out in the open, you can be sure that our team will be all over it to make sure it gets a proper review. It may be best to wait for a review before diving into a brand new casino – and don’t worry, we don’t take our sweet time when we do them.

Canadian Live Casino Online

Online casinos that focus on live dealer games are referred to as Live Casinos. While almost every single gambling site has a live casino games section, live casino sites are the ones that focus on live dealer games more than the others. You will be able to tell this by the number of live dealer games they have available and the bonuses associated with them.

Online Casino Payment Methods in Canada

Gambling simply isn’t fun if you can’t play for real money. While physical cash is out of the question, there are plenty of online casino payment methods that ensure we have a good time on gambling sites.

Credit and debit cards

Not only are these the most popular payment methods for online payment in general, these are also the most popular payment methods for any online casino. Please keep in mind that an online casino may charge you a transaction fee for using a card.

Visa

Arguably, the most popular credit card in the world, many online casinos will accept direct Visa payments. They may not always accept the card for withdrawals and they might have a banking fee associated with it, but almost every online casino will accept this payment option.

Mastercard

Out of all the runner ups to Visa, Mastercard is probably the most popular one. Mastercard is almost always right next to VIsa as an alternative card payment.

Paysafecard

Many people don’t feel comfortable with linking their personal payment options with an online casino. For those people, Paysafecard is a great solution. With a Paysafecard, you simply deposit some money at newsagents, take the card, use it on an online casino, and then throw it away once you are done (or deposit more money on it). The only problem is that it doesn’t work for withdrawals.

American Express

While not as widely accepted as Visa and Mastercard, many casinos will still accept AMX among their banking options. If you happen to have one of these, make sure you read beforehand if a casino accepts it.

PayPal

The de facto e-wallet for all your online payments, except online casino payments. As much as we all love paying for goods using PayPal, casinos rarely go the extra mile to make PayPal a part of their banking options. Don’t get us wrong, we love to use Paypal but we rarely see it in online casinos.

Neteller

Unlike Paypal, we often see Neteller when we do our casino reviews. Neteller is pretty much the same as PayPal but not as strict (or as expensive).

ecoCard and ecoPayz

For us fellow Canadians, ecoPayz may just be the perfect way to pay for online gambling. While not the most popular payment method, almost every casino site we’ve come across accepts it. Not to mention, it’s super easy to use.

Interac Online

Interac Online is a bridge between your bank cheques and the casino. While it’s not as fast as we’d like it to be, Interac is a very secure way of depositing and withdrawing funds from an online casino site.

Bank Transfer

The less we say about bank transfers, the better. We try to avoid this payment method as much as possible not because it’s bad, but because it’s slow and expensive. Bank transfers can take days and the bank may charge you an extra fee for using them. Unfortunately, it’s often the only available payment method in some Canadian online casinos.

Cryptocurrencies

While still a relatively new payment method, crypto payments have become so popular in the world of online casino gambling that they spawned Bitcoin Casinos. Using crypto for online casino gambling is safe, secure, instant and just feels very natural. If you haven’t jumped on the crypto bandwagon, this might be a good reason to. After all, some of the best real money casinos understand this all too well.

Best Online Casinos in Canada: Summary

No matter how you look at it, online casinos in Canada are here to stay. There are plenty of games, payment methods, bonuses, VIP programs for any type of player. Check out our online gambling guide if you want to understand online casinos in Canada a little better. And play responsibly! We got you, Bro!