Until 2021, Canadians could only bet parlays. Bill C-218 changed that. Here's what single-game betting means and why it transformed Canadian sports betting.
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Single-game sports betting — betting on the outcome of one game or event — has been legal across Canada since August 2021, when Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, took effect. Before that, the Criminal Code allowed only parlay betting, where you had to combine two or more games on a single ticket. The change let provinces offer single-event wagers and directly enabled the open regulated markets in Ontario and Alberta.
For decades, paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Criminal Code prohibited betting on the outcome of a single sporting event. Provincial sportsbooks like Proline and Sports Action could therefore only offer parlays — you had to pick at least two or three games correctly to win, which lengthened the odds and pushed serious bettors toward offshore books that offered single-game lines. Bill C-218, a private member's bill, removed that paragraph. It received royal assent on 29 June 2021 and came into force on 27 August 2021, legalising single-game sports betting nationwide.
| Feature | Before Bill C-218 | After Bill C-218 |
|---|---|---|
| Legal bet type | Parlay only (2+ games) | Single game or event allowed |
| Bet on one NHL game moneyline? | No | Yes |
| Player props on one game? | No | Yes |
| Competitiveness vs. offshore | Weak | Comparable |
| Effective date | — | 27 August 2021 |
Bill C-218 did not create a national sportsbook — consistent with the Criminal Code framework, it left it to each province to decide how to offer single-game betting. Existing government platforms (Proline+ in Ontario, PlayNow in BC and Manitoba, Espacejeux in Quebec, Atlantic Lottery's Proline in the Atlantic provinces) added single-game markets. Then, less than a year later, Ontario launched its open competitive market on 4 April 2022, bringing dozens of private sportsbooks online — a direct downstream effect of C-218. Alberta followed with its own open market on 13 July 2026.
The change transformed Canadian sports betting. Being able to bet a single outcome — an NHL moneyline, a puck line, a player prop, an over/under — instead of a forced multi-game parlay made regulated Canadian books genuinely competitive with the offshore sites that had dominated for years. A parlay compounds risk: to win a three-leg ticket you must be right three times, and one wrong leg loses the whole bet. Single-game betting lets you isolate a view — back the Oilers on the moneyline, take the under on a Leafs total, or bet a single player prop — with odds priced to that one event. It also opened the door to live/in-play betting, where lines shift during the game, and to the deep, hockey-first markets Canadian bettors want.
Before C-218, a large share of Canadian sports-betting money flowed to offshore books precisely because they offered single-game lines the legal provincial products could not. By closing that gap, the law let provinces recapture that activity — and the associated tax revenue and consumer-protection reach — inside regulated markets. Ontario's open market, launched in April 2022 with dozens of competing sportsbooks, is the clearest example of the downstream effect, and Alberta's July 2026 launch extended the same model west. For bettors, the practical result is more choice, tighter odds and, in the open markets, provincial recourse if something goes wrong.
Single-game betting is legal in every province, but how you access it still depends on where you live, following the usual provincial framework. In Ontario and Alberta you can use dozens of licensed private sportsbooks in the open markets. In BC and Manitoba you use PlayNow; in Quebec, Espacejeux; in the Atlantic provinces, Atlantic Lottery's Proline. Many Canadians also use offshore sportsbooks for their depth of hockey markets, in the same legal grey area that applies to offshore casinos. Explore the markets on our sports betting and NHL betting pages, and see the Ontario sportsbook options the law made possible.
The essentials every Canadian player should know, in one place:
| Topic | The short answer |
|---|---|
| Is it legal? | Regulated province by province. Ontario (2022) and Alberta (July 2026) run open markets; other provinces use government platforms; offshore sites accept players nationwide in a legal grey area. |
| Legal age | 19+ in most provinces; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. |
| Are winnings taxed? | No — recreational winnings are tax-free. Professional gambling can be taxed as business income. |
| Single-game sports betting | Legal nationwide since August 2021 (Bill C-218). |
| Kahnawake licence | A Mohawk Nation regulator in Quebec — legitimate, but NOT a Canadian provincial licence. |
| Best payment method | Interac e-Transfer (instant, bank-to-bank) or crypto (fastest payouts). |
The full federal + provincial legal picture.
How Ontario's AGCO-regulated market works.
Canada's newest regulated market (July 2026).
What a Kahnawake licence really means.
Why recreational winnings are tax-free.
19+ vs 18+, province by province.
Yes. Bill C-218 legalised single-game sports betting across Canada, effective 27 August 2021. Before that, the Criminal Code allowed only parlay betting on two or more games.
The Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act — a 2021 private member's bill that amended the Criminal Code to remove the ban on betting on a single sporting event. It received royal assent on 29 June 2021 and took effect on 27 August 2021.
A parlay requires you to combine two or more games on one ticket and win all of them. Single-game betting lets you wager on the outcome of just one game or event — a single moneyline, spread, total or player prop.
27 August 2021, when Bill C-218 came into force. Provinces then added single-game markets to their platforms, and Ontario launched an open competitive market in April 2022.
No. Like all gambling in Canada, sports betting is regulated province by province. Bill C-218 removed the federal restriction, then each province decided how to offer single-game betting — through government sites or, in Ontario and Alberta, open markets.
Yes. Since Bill C-218 you can bet single-game NHL markets — moneyline, puck line, totals and player props — on regulated provincial and open-market sportsbooks. See our NHL betting page for options.
