Canada has always had a complicated and confusing relationship with online gambling. Even though things have eased up in recent years, many players are still confused about what’s allowed and what isn’t. Many laws on the federal and those on the local level tend to differ significantly, especially in the realm of online gambling.

Even though most online gambling forms are now largely acknowledged throughout the country, there is still confusion regarding deposits and withdrawals in online casinos and online sportsbooks.

The good thing is that most major banks in Canada allow online gambling, more or less. However, some things still need clarification.

The Relationship Between Canadian Banks and Online Gambling

The main problem stems from the fact that online gambling is a provincial and territorial matter in Canada. The federal government has no specific laws that adequately cover online gambling, especially when we consider gambling on offshore sites, which is something most Canadian players do.

Every province and every territory is free to make its own laws for online gambling, which is completely fine, but this practice is quite problematic for banks. If that weren’t enough, there are always gambling sites that are not entirely safe, so no bank wants to deal with them, which adds more to the confusion.

However, if we were to look only at decent online gambling sites, you can get an adequate answer. All in all, there are five major banks in Canada, the so-called Big Five Banks of Canada:

• Bank of Montreal (BMO)
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
• Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
• Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)

All of these banks allow online gambling, except for Scotiabank that only allows payments to be made to iGaming sites regulated in Canada. In essence, this means that you can’t use many offshore gambling sites, as many of them are not regulated in Canada but other countries.

Bank of Montreal (BMO)

Bank of Montreal is the oldest financial institution in Canada as it was established in 1817. Today, it has over 7 million customers and more than 900 branches throughout the country.

When it comes to gambling, BMO considers every payment to a gambling site like a cash transaction. You can deposit money as you get credits for gambling, then the winnings from these credits can be converted into cash once again.

In essence, the bank views this as traveller’s checks or money orders. It even has gambling transactions described as cash-like transactions within the cardholder agreement every user has to accept.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, or CIBC, is the second-largest bank in Canada. It services around 11 million customers in Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. It was founded in 1961 when the Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada merged.

The bank doesn’t deny players using its services to pay for gambling activities, but it doesn’t allow them either. In essence, the agreement every user of this bank has to accept specifies that CIBC has the right to deny processing gambling payments.

However, this never happens in reality, and we haven’t heard about a player having any trouble making payments on online gambling platforms.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)

The Royal Bank of Canada is the largest bank in Canada, with 16 million customers and hundreds of branches in 50 different countries.

Just like CIBC, the Royal Bank of Canada also has the right to deny gambling-related payments if the bank wants to. Unfortunately, this does happen, but only with Mastercard and Visa cards. You can still get a prepaid card or transfer money to an e-wallet to make payments on gambling sites.

This is a bit complicated, but if you already have a third-party service that can be connected to your RBC account, then you’ll quickly get the hang of things. In essence, you can use Interac Online, Inpay, Neosurf, Paysafecard, instant gift card, Bitcoin, and prepaid Visa and Mastercard as third-party options that will help make payments in online gambling sites using your RBC money.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)

Toronto-Dominion Bank serves more than 10 million customers through around a thousand offices in Canada.

TD tends to block payments connected to internet gambling, but you can still make payments using third-party methods, as we explained for RBC. You can use instant banking with Interac, iDebit, and Instadebit, or e-wallets like Neteller to make as many payments as you want.

Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)

Scotiabank is the only one of Canada’s five major banks to explicitly forbid and block all gambling-related payments. The bank considers them illegal, even though there is no specific Canadian law that says this.

The only gambling-related payments you can make are the ones in provincially regulated gambling sites, like PlayNow in British Columbia and Manitoba, EspaceJeux in Quebec, and PlayOLG in Ontario.

The worst thing here is that you can’t even use gift cards from Scotiabank. In essence, every payment made to an unregulated gambling site with a Scotiabank card or gift card will be immediately rejected.

Bank Payment Methods You Can Use on Gambling Sites

Before you decide to make a payment in an online casino or sportsbook, you first need to check the following:

• What payment methods does the gambling site accept?
• Does your bank allow payments to gambling sites?
• Does the bank allow direct payments, or do you have to use third-party methods?

Once you know the answers to these questions, you’ll know exactly what to use to make a payment.

Besides third-party methods we’ve already discussed, you can still use direct methods if the bank allows them for gambling-related activities.

In essence, the most common methods are Visa or Mastercard credit cards or debit cards. These methods are accepted in almost every gambling site, so you only need to worry whether your bank will allow you to make payments there.

You can also use a regular bank transfer for making both deposits and withdrawals, as this option is also quite common in online gambling platforms. However, bear in mind that direct bank transfers are much slower. Deposits are typically instant, just like any other deposit method, but withdrawals can last anywhere between four and 14 business days.

In the end, you can also use e-checks that function like regular checks, only in an online form. However, this method is not always available on gambling sites, and it can’t be used for withdrawals but for deposits only.

The Bottom Line

Online gambling is still in a grey zone in Canada, which is why making payments with a bank account or card can often be problematic for Canadian gamblers. Some banks allow most forms of payments; others require you to use third-party options, while only Scotiabank forbids gambling-related payments on unregulated sites.

Thankfully, you can always use third-party options that make these payments easy and safe. Options like Interac and numerous e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill can help you make quick and easy deposits and withdrawals on online gambling sites.

FAQ

Is online gambling legal in Canada?

You can only gamble legally in sites that are regulated in Canada. However, offshore gambling sites are still allowed, and every Canadian is well within their rights to use them. This is the preferred option for most Canadians, but it’s precisely where payments become trickier.

Does Toronto-Dominion Bank allow online gambling?

Yes, you can always try to use a credit or debit card from TD Bank to make gambling-related payments, but bear in mind that they might be blocked. It’s much better to use an eCheck if it’s supported by the gambling site or one of the many e-wallets as a third-party mediator.

What happens if my bank declines a transaction?

Usually nothing, but some banks can be quite strict and might even decide to close your account. Thankfully, this is only sometimes the case with TD and RBC. In general, players rarely have to fear having their gambling-related payments blocked in Canada.

What prepaid cards can I use in online gambling?

The best cards you can use come from Visa and Maestro, but Paysafecard and ecoCard are also great options.

Can I use a Visa gift card for online gambling payments?

As Visa doesn’t issue the card, you can only use it if your bank allows it. Thankfully, most Canadian banks allow the usage of Visa gift cards in gambling sites.