Online Casinos in British Columbia

British Columbia has a lot of great places to gamble. As well as its 17 brick-and-mortar casinos, there is many a trusted British Columbia online casino. There are not only their own casinos in bc, but also players can get access to reliable online casinos located abroad.

If you’re looking for an online casino BC, our article will go into all of the information you need. We’ll include a list of the best online gambling platforms and include what we think is the most trusted online casino Canada has to offer. So, without further ado, we’ll give you the ins and out of everything bc casino online-related.

Are Online Casinos Legal in British Columbia?

One of the most important questions people often ask is about the legality of a BC online casino. The good news is that BC gambling is legal, both in physical and in online ones. British Columbia online casino rules are regulated by the principal government under the guidance of the BCLC, which is the British Columbia Lottery Commission. It is the GPEB – the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch – that regulated all of British Columbia’s gambling.

In Canada, the laws on gambling are mandated bilaterally. The federal government determines what constitutes gambling, but the province is responsible for legalizing and regulating its own gambling activities. This means that if a province doesn’t regulate gambling, it will be illegal by default. Thankfully, British Columbia has regulatory practices in place, meaning that residents of this province don’t need to worry about the legalities of gambling sites.

Compared to some places in the world, online gambling has been around in British Columbia since 1986 in the form of online lottery games. The first keno draw happened in 1995 and the first online slots were in 1997.

Adults in BC are able to access online betting platforms, online poker, online sports books, and online lottery games. There are ‘grey areas’ when it comes to using offshore websites, however. It isn’t illegal to play on sites that are outside of Canada. Offshore sites that comply with the basic BC gambling laws (fair gaming, no underage betting, etc.) aren’t breaking any rules if they accept BC players.

Offshore sites with a Kahnawake online casino licence are the most common in BC. Due to the increasing popularity of online gambling, there are the newest casinos online popping up all the time. However, the British Columbia regulations do state that PlayNow.com is the only legal online gambling site in the province, hence the grey area.

Are Casino Winnings Taxable in Casinos in BC?

The great news for British Columbians and Canadians is that they don’t have to pay any taxes on online winnings. As a result, a large majority of people using British Columbia online casinos won’t pay a cent of income tax on anything they win in a casino, online or otherwise.

The only exception to this rule is if online gambling is how you make a living. So, you shouldn’t pay taxes on winnings from anything like games, sports betting, horse racing, lotteries, poker in a BC casino unless you’re treating it as a business. So, you can enjoy the best real money online casino Canada has to offer without a worry.

British Columbia Online Gambling History

When exploring what would end up being Canada in 1497, John Cabot found many Native people playing a range of chance games. Even though gambling became a part of the culture in the newly-formed Canada, it was ultimately banned in 1892 as stiff morals and religion were a huge part of the culture.

A few years later, things began changing with charity bingo being allowed from 1900. Horse racing was made legal ten years later. Slowly, things began changing and in 1970, all provinces were allowed to licence and regulate gambling. At first, this was mainly lotteries. The first land-based casino didn’t open until 1989 and it was in Winnipeg.

British Columbia was slightly behind this. Its first lottery began in 1985. The first land-based British Columbia casino was Royal City Star, which was actually a riverboat casino. This turned into the River Rock Casino Resort, which opened in 2004.

In 1993, online gambling took off and by the late 90s, Canadians started spending more and more in gambling sites.
The PlayNow.com site opened in 2010. This was the first online casino British Columbia had and it paved the way for the province’s first legal online games.

Benefits of British Columbia online casinos

Thought nothing beats the in-person excitement of gambling in a land-based casino, there’s also some great benefits of using online sites too. If you’ve always visited a land-based spot but are wondering about the benefits of British Columbia online casinos are, we’ll talk you through these and compare the two.

How to Play British Columbia Online Casinos

If you’ve decided to explore online casinos in British Columbia, here’s how to get started:

1. Research the best online casino BC has to offer and check the review on our website.
2. Check that the gambling platform meets all of your requirements. Does it have a bonus offer? Is it a Canadian dollar casino? Can you use your preferred payment method? Does it offer the games that you want to play?
3. Create a gaming account. Depending on which site you use, you might need to verify your email address and even your ID.
4. Make your deposit and start playing responsibly.
5. Leave a review with us!

Getting The Best BC Online Casino Bonuses

As we mentioned above in our comparisons table, one the benefits of gambling sites is the number of bonuses on offer. Our experts have researched the typical bonuses you can expect from an online British Columbia casino. Let’s take a look at them.

• Sign-up bonuses. As its name suggests, a sign-up bonus is offered to players the first time they sign up at a site. Another name for this is a welcome bonus. Typically, these are bonuses that match your deposit up to a certain amount. For example, you might see a 100% welcome bonus up to $400. This means that if you deposit $400, you’ll receive $400 more to bet with. Some sign-up bonuses offer these matched deposit bonuses for the first few deposits and many also offer free spins alongside them.
• No-deposit bonuses. Though less common, a no deposit bonus is another form of sign-up bonus for newcomers to an online gambling platform. As the name suggests, players don’t need to make a deposit in order to receive bonus money. However, the amounts offered are usually small, $20 or $30 for example. It’s hard to find a free no deposit casino bonus Canada, so if you get one, make sure you use it!
• Deposit bonuses. A deposit bonus is an amount of money given to players when they make a deposit. If this isn’t the sign-up or welcome bonus, it’s often called a reload bonus as you’re essentially reloading your account with more money. Some BC gambling sites offer deposit bonuses for deposits made on certain days of the week.
• Free Spins. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a free spins no deposit Canada gambling site. If you’re looking to try out some slot games without spending your own money, this is the sort of offer you need to look out for. As well as being available as a sign up offer, free spins are often available on certain games on specific days of the week, depending on the casino site.
• Low wager. All bonuses are typically subject to wagering requirement. However, it is possible to find low wager bonuses so that you get access to the bonus money sooner and without spending too much of your own money. Low wagering casino bonuses are hard to find so make sure you check out all of the latest casino bonuses available on our site.
• Wagering Requirements. All online casinos in British Columbia have wagering requirements on their bonuses. This means that when you receive a bonus amount, you’ll have to wager it so many times before it can be withdrawn. If, for example, you have a $200 bonus with a wagering requirement of 30x. This means that you must place $200 x 30 ($6000) in bets before you’re allowed to withdraw the bonus funds. There is also a difference in how you can play with your real money account and your bonus money account. All Casinos BC online sites will have its own rules written in its Terms and Conditions.

Games Available at British Columbia Casinos

The great thing is that BC casinos online have so many games on offer and the number of BC slots are in their thousands.
Let’s take a look at the types of online gaming BC games available:

• Online slots. There are thousands of online slots Canada casino offer. There are 2D slots, video slots, and progressive jackpot slots. With slot games, you’ve got something for everyone. There are slots designed with both low-stakes and high-stakes players in mind, themed slots, and even international jackpot slots.
• Table games. For those who love traditional, brick-and-mortar casinos, table games are available everywhere. Whether it’s roulette, blackjack, craps, baccarat, or online poker, the choices are plentiful. You can even play different varieties of table games like American Roulette or French Roulette, for example.
• Games with live dealers. There is a huge range of Canadian live casinos options offering the thrill and excitement of a real experience with real players to play against. You can play roulette, blackjack, poker, baccarat, and many more besides.

Making deposits and withdrawals for online gambling

If you’re used to shopping online, making deposits in a BC online casino is not much different. After choosing a site and creating an account, you’ll have the option to make a deposit.

Firstly, head to the cashier section of your gambling account. Choose ‘deposit’ and then follow the instructions. You’ll need to select a payment method, input your details, including how much you wis to deposit, then make your payment. You should check the T&Cs before making a deposit as some sites do require you to withdraw money via the same method used for the deposit.

Here are the main types of payment methods you’ll come across in online casino British Columbia real money sites:

• Bank cards: most sites accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and other major card types. It’s also possible to do online casino interac payments and you can also find online casinos that accept echeck too.
• Bank transfer: some people prefer to transfer money to the site via their online banking. This can take a little longer to process.
• Electronic wallets: the quickest and most convenient deposit and withdrawal method is an e-wallet. E-wallets like Skrill and Neteller make payments quick, safe and secure. What’s more, this is the quickest method for receiving cash after withdrawals too.
• Crypto wallets: more and more online casino sites are accepting cryptocurrency payments. In Canada BTC casino sites are coming up more and more and more people discover the benefits of using a cryptocurrency.
• Prepaid cards: prepaid cards are accepted widely in Canadian and British Columbian casinos.
• Pay by phone: many people look for a pay by phone casino Canada, and they’re often pleasantly surprised to find that this is an option.

Online casinos with a minimum deposit

One of the great things about British Columbia casinos is that there are so many that offer low deposits. Low deposit casinos are great because you can try out the games and get a feel for the gambling platform before deciding whether or not you want to stick around and continue playing there. For example, it’s quite easy to find a $10 deposit casino in British Columbia.

British Columbia Casino Apps

When handheld devices started becoming more commonplace, so did mobile casinos and apps. Your options depend on which site you use and what you play. Any good online casino BC will have a mobile-optimized website and the canadian mobile casinos also have their own app. You can find all of the best real money casino apps Canada has to offer here.

Author’s Conclusion

Our experts have searched the web for the top ten canadian online casinos has to offer and while doing so, they’ve checked every online casino British Columbia has access to in order to see if they should be added to the list. Check out our list to see which site appeals to you the most!