Quebec online poker is suddenly an election issue. With the province going to the polls on October 5, the two parties leading the race — the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) and the Parti Québécois (PQ) — have both endorsed opening the province's online gambling market to private operators.
That would make Quebec the third Canadian province to license private igaming, after Ontario in April 2022 and Alberta on July 13, 2026. With a population of around 9 million, it would also immediately become one of the largest potential online poker markets in North America.
Today, Quebec players are limited to Loto-Québec's provincially run offering through Espace Jeux and the Canada Poker Network. Everything else is technically outside the provincial framework.
What each party has proposed
PLQ leader Charles Milliard moved first, on September 9, pledging to require online gaming platforms to obtain accreditation from the provincial government. The proposal would expand the mandate of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) to oversee the entire sector — including Loto-Québec itself — with a bill introduced in the first year of a Liberal government.
Under that framework, operators would need provincial licences, comply with stricter advertising standards, implement addiction-prevention measures and introduce enhanced protections for minors. The plan also proposes an independent, industry-funded body dedicated to gambling harm prevention. Milliard's fiscal framework, published September 13, estimates the measure could generate C$310-320 million annually from the 2027-28 fiscal year.
The PQ subsequently backed the idea. Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon called the proposal "brilliant" in a television interview, saying his own research found online sports betting in Quebec was a "Wild West."
"Imagine if we take $300 million and invest it in homelessness, in children who go hungry at school, in learning disabilities," he said. "We could have an immediate impact."
The PQ's position remains the less developed of the two. It has not published a costed regulatory framework or named the regulator that would oversee private operators.
Polling has been tight. A Pallas Data survey conducted September 5 put the PQ at 29% among decided and leaning voters, ahead of the CAQ at 24% and the PLQ at 20%. Its September 12 follow-up had the PQ at 27% with the CAQ and PLQ both at 23%.
The industry case
The Quebec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC), formed in 2023 to advocate for an Ontario-style model, has welcomed both positions. Its membership reads like a roll call of the companies that would enter the market: DraftKings, Flutter (parent of PokerStars and FanDuel), Entain (BetMGM), Rush Street Interactive (BetRivers), Betway and BET99.
"The positions taken by the various political parties demonstrate that a broad consensus is emerging in Québec in favor of establishing clear rules that must apply equally to both Loto-Québec and private companies offering online gaming," said QOGC spokesperson Ariane Gauthier.
The coalition's argument rests on the gap between the legal market and actual player behaviour. It commissioned a Mainstreet Research survey of 1,010 Quebec residents who play online; 73% said they used privately operated platforms for online casino games and sports betting, against 26.6% using Loto-Québec's Espace Jeux. A 2025 Blask report cited by the coalition estimated Loto-Québec accounted for just 17% of online gambling activity in the province.
Those are industry-sourced figures rather than government data, and should be read with that in mind. But the direction they point is consistent with what happened in Ontario, where a large grey market existed before licensing and largely migrated onto licensed platforms afterwards.
The Ontario benchmark
Ontario is the obvious comparison, and the numbers are substantial. The province generated C$1.26 billion in total gaming revenue in its first full year, with iGaming Ontario reporting C$145.7 million in direct contribution to government. By fiscal 2024-25, total gaming revenue had reached C$2.9 billion, with iGaming Ontario contributing C$261 million.
The QOGC's estimate for Quebec has moved from at least C$230 million annually to more than C$300 million — broadly in line with the PLQ's own C$310-320 million projection, which is unusual and probably not coincidental.
Why poker players should care
Here is the part that matters most to readers of this site: liquidity.
Ontario's poker market is ring-fenced. Licensed operators serve a separate provincial player pool, cut off from their own global player bases. That is why Ontario's poker offering, despite a large population and every major brand being present, has never produced the tournament fields or cash-game spread that the raw population numbers would suggest.
Alberta's regulated market has not launched its poker component yet, and the timing is partly dependent on an agreement allowing Alberta and Ontario players to share liquidity. If Quebec joins, the realistic end state is a three-province player pool — something structurally similar to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) in the US, which lets players in participating states compete in shared pools.
That would be a genuinely different market. Ontario alone has roughly 15 million people; add Alberta's 4.8 million and Quebec's 9 million and you have a shared pool serving nearly 29 million — larger than the entire current MSIGA footprint. For players, shared liquidity is the difference between a 200-runner Sunday major and a 2,000-runner one, and the difference between one $2/$5 table running and six.
Our Canada poker sites page tracks what is currently available province by province, and the poker networks guide explains how shared pools actually work behind the scenes.
What this means for players
Nothing changes before October 5, and probably not for a while after. Even on the fastest plausible timeline — a PLQ government introducing a bill in its first year — licensing, technical standards and operator onboarding realistically put a launch into 2028. Ontario took roughly 18 months from legislation to live market.
A launch does not guarantee good poker. Ontario is the cautionary tale here. A regulated market with every major brand present still delivered underwhelming poker because of ring-fencing. The provision that matters in any Quebec framework is whether it permits cross-provincial liquidity from day one, not how many operators it licenses.
Players in unregulated situations should prioritise site safety over site selection. Until a provincial framework exists, Quebec players using international platforms are relying entirely on the operator's own licensing jurisdiction for consumer protection. Our safe poker sites guide covers what to check, and the reviews of BetOnline, TigerGaming and Black Chip Poker cover rooms with established track records serving Canadian players.
Watch the regulator, not the manifesto. Whichever party forms government, the substance will be in the regulatory framework the RACJ or its successor writes — advertising rules, tax rates, technical standards and liquidity provisions. Those details will determine whether Quebec becomes a genuine poker market or another ring-fenced casino market with a poker tab.
Sources: Pokerfuse