Online Casinos in New Brunswick

The Legal Position

New Brunswick sets out its own framework on the province's gaming page. "Gaming in Canada is governed by the Criminal Code of Canada. Under that statute, generally speaking, gambling is unlawful unless it is conducted and managed by the province (or a body authorized by the province to license gaming on its behalf) or licensed by a provincial government." Then it names who does it here: "Under the Gaming Control Act, the New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation (NBLGC) is responsible for the conduct and management of all provincial gaming as required by paragraph 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code of Canada."

Two bodies, not one. The same page continues: "The Gaming, Liquor and Security Licensing Branch, of the Department of Public Safety, is responsible for the regulation and control of provincial gaming as well as the regulation, control and licensing of charitable gaming in the province." So the Corporation runs the gaming and a branch of another department regulates it. The page names that branch as the province's displayed text does; the same page's collapsed panels call it "the Gaming Control Branch with the Department of Justice and Public Safety", and we have not resolved which is current.

The Act itself, assented to on 18 June 2008, does the work with a prohibition rather than a permission. Section 33 is headed "Prohibition re: lottery schemes" and reads: "No person, other than the government of the Province or an agency of the government or a person otherwise authorized or licensed by or under the authority of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council pursuant to the Criminal Code (Canada), shall conduct or manage a lottery scheme." Section 34 then confines licensing to a narrow class — an application "in accordance with paragraph 207(1)(b) or (f) of the Criminal Code (Canada) by a charitable or religious organization".

That is why no online-specific wording is needed. The Act defines "lottery scheme" as having "the same meaning as in the Criminal Code (Canada)" — a definition about the arrangement, not the medium — and defines a "game of chance" to include "a lottery scheme that is conducted and managed by the New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation or other agency of the government of the Province under the authority of paragraph 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code (Canada)". An online casino game is a lottery scheme on those definitions, and section 33 reaches it.

How Atlantic Lottery Comes Into It

Atlantic Lottery is not a licensee. It is an agency the Act lets the province create and then designate, in two steps. Section 7(d) lets the Corporation, with the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, enter agreements with another province's government to incorporate a body corporate; the Act's own definition of "ALC" is "the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, a body corporate incorporated under an agreement entered into under paragraph 7(d)". Section 8 then provides that where such a body corporate has been incorporated, the Corporation, again with the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, "may enter into an agreement with the body corporate, whereby the body corporate may be designated as and become an agency of the Crown in right of the Province for the purpose of conducting and managing a lottery scheme in this Province".

So the chain is statutory throughout: the Act prohibits, the Act carves out the government and its agencies, and the Act provides the mechanism by which Atlantic Lottery becomes one of those agencies. The province's gaming page describes Atlantic Lottery as "a crown corporation owned by the four Atlantic provinces", naming New Brunswick among them as "represented by the NBLGC". What authorises it to operate here is this province's own Act, and we say nothing here about anyone else's.

Worth noting what the monopoly is and is not. It is over conduct and management. Operation can be contracted out, and in the land-based market it is: the province records that Casino New Brunswick "is operated by a private operator, the Great Canadian Gaming (New Brunswick) Ltd. on behalf of NBLGC", and that Grey Rock Casino "is operated by a private operator, the Grey Rock Entertainment Centre Inc." on the same basis. Section 7(b) is the provision that allows it, letting the Corporation with the Lieutenant-Governor in Council's approval "enter into an agreement with a person to operate a casino". The Act also lets the Minister agree with a band on establishing a gaming commission to license and regulate lottery schemes on reserve, under section 24(2).

Who Offers Online Casino Games, and Since When

The province answers the first question in one line, in the online gaming section of its own gaming page: "ALC.ca is the only legal and regulated online gambling platform in New Brunswick." The same section describes what is on it — "Atlantic Lottery Corporation currently offers online digital gaming experiences through its iGaming platform", among them "the Digital Instants, iBingo and most recently, iCasino".

The date comes from the Corporation's own annual report, tabled in the Legislature. Under the heading iCasino, the 2020-2021 report records: "In June 2020, the NBLGC board approved the launch of iCasino, a new line of business through ALC. New Brunswick became the first province in Atlantic Canada to launch iCasino on August 6, 2020, providing a legal and regulated alternative to unauthorized online gambling." The board approval is the Corporation's own business decision; the authority to run it at all is the statutory chain above.

The later reports show it is not a side line. The 2023-2024 report records revenue from the iLottery business line of "$28.6 million, with $24.1 million attributable to iCasino", and names the games — "The Wild Life, Cash Eruption, Rich Little Piggies Meal Ticket, Megajackpots Cleopatra and Powerbucks Bounty O' Bucks".

A Bill Before the Legislature

Something is changing, and because it has not changed yet the tense matters. Bill 8 of the 61st Legislature's third session, "An Act to Amend the Gaming Control Act", is a government bill sponsored by the Hon. René Legacy. The Legislature records first reading on 27 October 2026 and second reading debated on 28 October 2026, and gives its status as "Second Reading (Debate Adjourned)". It is a bill. It is not law, and its final section says so: "This Act or any provision of it comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation."

What it would do is write the online market into the Act. It would add two definitions the Act does not contain. An "online casino lottery scheme" would mean "a lottery scheme conducted and managed by the Corporation through an online platform and involving casino-style games", and a "live casino lottery scheme" would mean "an online casino lottery scheme in which casino-style games are hosted, facilitated or presented by a live person". It would then add a power in section 7, letting the Corporation with the Lieutenant-Governor in Council's approval designate a body corporate "as an agency of the government of the Province to operate in the Province an online casino lottery scheme, including a live casino lottery scheme".

Read plainly, that would be New Brunswick legislating for live dealer games and, in the same stroke, bringing online casino play into the Act’s own text for the first time. If it is proclaimed, we will cite the Act rather than the bill.

Age and Getting Help

We cannot give you a sourced minimum age for New Brunswick. The Gaming Control Act sets none — the words "age", "minor" and "majority" appear nowhere in it, and its only adjacent provisions are powers to make regulations prohibiting "individuals who meet prescribed criteria" from entering a casino, which prescribe no number. We have not read all seven regulations made under the Act, so we are not going to tell you none of them sets an age either.

On help, New Brunswick publishes a line and says what it is for. The province's responsible gaming page tells a reader: "If you or someone you know is experiencing a gambling problem, help and services are offered by the Department of Health. Call 1-800-461-1234 for free, confidential information."

The Corporation also funds a Responsible Gaming Information Centre, which it describes as a service "available to casino patrons, casino staff, members of the public, and other professionals seeking information about responsible gaming". It sits at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton and takes calls on 506-861-4699. That is a walk-in information service attached to a building rather than a counselling line, and we print it as that.