Ontario Regulates the Advertising and Disclosure of Casino Bonuses

04 November 2026

Ontario-focussed Online Casino Promotions Operate Under Restrictive Promotion Rules

Since its launch in April 2022, Ontario's regulated online gaming market has seen a diverse array of promotions offered by licensed operators. But navigating the landscape of casino bonuses in the province has its own specific rules and challenges.

Ontario does not ban bonuses outright, but it strictly limits how inducements, bonuses, and credits may be advertised. The regulatory body, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), set clear boundaries for where and how casino bonuses may appear.

What Ontario Rules Actually Say

Ontario’s Standard 2.05 of the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming allows bonuses and credits, but bars their public advertising outside an operator’s own site. The key guidance is this: marketing materials that communicate gambling inducements, bonuses, and credits are prohibited except on an operator’s gaming site and through direct advertising and marketing, after receiving active player consent.

This rule guides the entire industry: AGCO guidance on bonuses specifies that they will only reach players through an operator’s own site or through a channel the player opted into. Ontario-facing bonus pages from regulated operators may show offers only after a user creates an account or logs in, rather than on public-facing promotional pages.

Why No-Deposit Offers Are Hard to Find

Given this rule, it's no wonder that no deposit bonuses are not plastered on casino homepages like they used to be in other jurisdictions. Ontario operators cannot publicly advertise bonus amounts or dollar values up front. Promotions will not appear on third party sites or in mass media marketing campaigns.

Instead, offers like no deposit bonuses appear only inside the operator’s site or app after they have a player already in the door. A review of Ontario bonus rules states that such offers can reach players through the site’s promotions tab, inside the casino lobby, or after a player actively logs in from a link in an email or SMS message.

PlayOJO, for instance, showcases its no deposit bonus of 20 free spins after a player logs in. Until then, the bonus page is blank. Caesars Palace Online Casino Ontario similarly states that additional bonus conditions, including any minimum wagering required to release the bonus and any bonus expiration date, appear in the specific terms and conditions for the promotional offer.

Operators are not allowed to make misleading claims in advertising, so terms and conditions are the area where key details like wagering requirements, minimum deposits, or game eligibility appear. A typical Ontario offer from BetMGM Casino lists a welcome bonus of 100% match on a first deposit up to $1,000, but buried in its terms are the statement that players must wager 1x the bonus funds, with a 30 day period to redeem it, no games are 100% weighted, and the minimum bet is $10.

How Free-Play Language is Policed

To prevent opaque terms and conditions, Ontario has also set clear language standards around what the AGCO refers to as free play promotions. The AGCO is very explicit: Free Play promotions must comply with the Registrar’s Standards, and players should not have to spend or risk their own money to qualify if something is promoted as free.

This edict explains the complete lack of no-wagering promotions in Ontario. Because free cannot mean growing an account with free money that has to be turned over to gamble a certain amount of times, it has also led to offers bundled with free spins asking for deposits and strict playthrough.

Bonus terms typically include a wagering requirement, time limits, eligible games, and withdrawal restrictions. Some operators lump the fine print into a general Terms and Conditions page, but more typically, operators link to bonus-specific rules and regulations. This practice complies with marketing rules, but makes understanding the true value of each bonus much trickier. Players are warned to read documentation closely.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation's site for instance refers to the industry catch-all Pay-to-Play Game Rules as the rules of the game, explaining that they are the terms, conditions, explanations, rules and procedures that apply to a particular game and are designated by OLG as such.

Bottom line: All Ontario players have to access offers, read terms, and not assume that free means truly free.