Ford government could lose $2.8B over 5 years in online gambling bet, confidential report warns – By Mike Crawley (CBC News) / January 17, 2022
Forecast contained in ‘confidential’ analysis for casino firm; online gaming companies dispute conclusions
As Premier Doug Ford’s government prepares to open up the online gambling market in Ontario, there’s a warning that its plans could see the province and municipalities lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue.
That warning is in a new report by a gambling industry consulting firm, obtained by CBC News. The report was prepared for Great Canadian Gaming, the company with the largest share of Ontario’s casino market.
Even though Ontario will have a new source of revenue from taxing the newly regulated online gaming sites, the report argues that the province will end up short-changed. That’s because it predicts a big shift in spending from land-based casinos to internet gaming.
Because the tax rate Ontario is expected to impose on online gambling sites is much lower than the percentage the government takes from casino spending, the report concludes that the province stands to lose out on $550 million in annual revenue for a total of $2.8 billion over the next five years.
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