Best Canadian Sportsbooks 2023

Sports betting in Canada has certainly come a long way. For a long time, Canadians could only officially wager on parlay bets through state-sponsored betting platforms. This led to the rise of offshore sportsbooks operating in a very widely-accepted legal grey area.

Brands like Bet365 and 888Sport were openly available to canucks with zero consequences to users or the sportsbook. After a while, this silly system was met with criticism and it was announced in 2021 that Canada would start an official provincial licensing system, similar to the state system in the US.

The Provinces and Territories will now be able to decide which sportsbooks to license themselves. April 2022 was the start of officially licensed sportsbooks in Canada, with Ontario being the first province to fully implement the system.

Now Canadians are spoiled with a bevy of options at their disposal. Many US sportsbooks like PointsBet and BetMGM have already been granted a license to start accepting wagers in Ontario, while bookmakers that have operated in the grey market will slowly become legal, with Bet365 and 888 already receiving their license to operate in Ontario.

Now the question becomes - which sportsbook deserves your hard-earned cash? This is the question we strive to answer at Sportsbooks Online.

With in-depth reviews of many of the top sportsbooks in Canada, we encourage you to use this page as a guide to help you find the absolute best online sportsbook for you.

Best Canadian Sportsbooks

1. PointsBet - First licensed in Ontario
2. FanDuel Sportsbook - Popular in the US
3. Caesars Sportsbook - Many odds boosts
4. BetMGM - Great mobile app
5. Bet365 - World's biggest sportsbook
6. Unibet - Sportsbook from Sweden
7. CoolBet - Great for parlays & casino
8. 888Sport - Established in Canada
9. BetRivers - Newly licensed in Ontario
10. theScore Bet - Licensed in Ontario

What you read on this site is our opinion. We have years of sports betting experience under our belts, but you still may be a bit skeptical of what strangers on the internet tell you what to do (understandable!).

For that reason, we think that communicating the criteria upon which we review online sportsbooks is important to add context to the lists you see here.

• Bonus Offers - Historically, sportsbooks have offered users sign up bonuses as an incentive to choose their site over the competition. If a sportsbook deos offer a bonus, does its offer provide you with real value? Bonuses not available in Ontario
• Sportsbook Betting Variety - Of course, we expect to be able to bet on your basic spreads, moneylines, and over/unders for major leagues. But what kind of parlay options are available? Is there an online casino included in the sportsbook? How is the live betting experience? These questions are crucial to determining if a sportsbook is offering you the best possible experience.
• Mobile Experience - Most sports betting sites have an app companion these days and whether the app is up to snuff or not can be the difference between an average and elite sportsbook.
• Betting Experience - This is more about the feel of the sportsbook. Is it easy to use? Is the design easy on the eyes? Is it laggy? These can add up and make it great
• Sportsbook Payment Options - Common payment options for sportsbooks include credit cards and bank transfers. But how many payment options are supported and how long each method takes for payouts and deposits is a crucial element of the user experience. It's your money, and you need to know you're investing with a site that will make banking as easy as possible
• Customer Support - While we hope this doesn't need to be important to your betting experience, it's always good to know you have some back-up in case you encounter some difficulties using an online sportsbook. That's why all of our full reviews have dedicated sections for customer support.

Single-game sports betting is now 100% legal in Canada. However, the majority of players are still stuck with provincial lottery systems as the only legitimate betting platform.

Of course, many object to using these platforms, as you miss out on many major features present on more popular privately-owned sportsbooks. Thus, it was only a matter of time before sports betting became privatized and major betting apps like DraftKings Sportsbook, Bet365, and FanDuel Sportsbook came to Canadian shores.

While, in the past, a number of major sportsbooks have existed in a greasy legal grey area, this grey area will soon be wiped away with provinces beginning their own process of licensing commercial sportsbooks in 2022. Ontario will be the first to begin allowing private online sportsbooks to accept single-game bets, followed by Alberta later in the year. The gong show that was sports betting in Canada will finally be fixed properly.

Online sportsbooks that are popular in the US, such as PointsBet and BetMGM are now available to bettors in Ontario after being granted licenses. Canadian media company theScore has also entered the fray, entering the Canadian market with their sportsbook theScore Bet, which is also available in the States.

The provincial licensing system will closely follow the model set forth by our neighbors to the south in how their states have the right to license private books of their own volition.

Hopefully, this process moves a little faster in Canada due to the already nationally-legal status of online sports betting, as opposed to in the US where it was illegal across the country until 2018.

Good news for Canadians - there has been plenty of new sportsbooks coming to Canada recently.

With the puck about to drop on Ontario's online sportsbook licensing system, many sportsbooks that have gained popularity in the States are looking to expand their empires to the North.

Once it was announced that PointsBet and theScore Bet would be the first granted a license to enter Ontario, it only made sense that the competition would follow. Other popular sportsbooks like BetRivers and FanDuel Sportsbook made their intentions clear - they would be entering Canada as well. BetMGM went so far as to bring on The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, as a brand ambassador!

We think the following are the best sportsbooks that have come to Canada.

In the past, sportsbooks have offered new users big sign up bonuses in order to attract them to come and sign up with their site. The thought was, throw a few loonies at someone and they'll come running to the platform to place their bets.

And in truth, it's worked most of the time. Smart bettors are able to suss out which sign up bonuses are mint and which are dusty. With so many new sportsbooks entering Canada, it would be smart to try and see if you can maximize your value.

Not Available in Ontario

With the rise of single-game wagering in Canada, sportsbooks now have the freedom to offer users a much wider range of bets to users than previously possible. You can now create single-game wagers, multi-game parlays, and even Same Game Parlays across a wide variety of sports. It's also important to note that when we talk about betting variety, there are really two major elements to keep in mind - betting markets offered by a sportsbook and the types of bets a sportsbook offers.

We know that distinction can be a bit contrived, so keep reading to learn more about betting variety on licensed Canadian Sportsbooks.

Betting Markets Available on a Sportsbook

There are sports you expect to see offered on just about every major sportsbook. Hockey, football, basketball, and soccer are a given to be offered on any sportsbook worth mentioning. However, a sportsbook can really rise above the pack by offering users an even deeper variety of sports.

eSports, darts, snooker, and table tennis are just some of the niche sports that have risen in popularity among global sportsbooks in recent years. If you're a serious bettor you've no doubt already seen - and perhaps already wagered on - some of these sports. If you ever plan on expanding your horizons past the typical NHL or CFL bet, this is a factor to keep in mind when picking your new online sportsbook.

Types of Bets Available on Online Sportsbooks

With single and multi-game bets now fully legal in Canada, it's maybe time for Canadians to expand their horizons even further. Many of the sportsbooks arriving on Canadian shores are leading innovators in the field, and offer numerous ways to bet that canucks have previously not had access to. Some popular types of bets available on online sportsbooks include the following:

• Single-Game Wagers - Fairly self-explanatory. These are straight-up bets placed on one outcome in one game. Can include spread bets, moneyline bets, and over/under bets.
• Multi-Game Wagers - Most of the time parlays where bettors combine multiple outcomes from one game into one bet. In parlay bets, all of the given outcomes have to hit in order for the bet to be considered a win.
• Same Game Parlays - A hybrid of the multi and single-game wagers, Same Game Parlays allows you to combine multiple outcomes from one match-up into a single parlay wager. For example, you could combine the spread and over/under of a given game into a single parlay wager in order to get a bigger payout.
• Futures - If you're more of a big picture bettor, you can instead try to make more long-term wagers. Futures bets allow you to make wagers on events that will occur throughout the season. These bets can include awards winners, state leaders, and playoff champions. Maple Leafs fans, for example, can bet on Auston Matthews to win MVP and on the Leafs to raise the Stanley Cup at the end of the year.
• Player Props - These bets are a bit more varied and can be offered as season-long totals or on a per-game basis as a single wager or as a part of a Same Game parlay. For example, you can et on the over/under for Josh Allen's passing yards on a per-game or total season basis on most sportsbooks.

Ever watch a game and feel the momentum shift? Once Fred VanVleet starts lighting the Celtics up from downtown, that 20 point lead Boston has will surely evaporate, right? But how do you capitalize on this feeling? The answer is live betting.

Live betting allows users to place wagers with updated odds while an event is ongoing. Most sportsbooks offer live betting, but there is a high variance between the average site and those that aim for pristine live experiences.

Probably the most exciting and interactive way to watch and wager, live betting is a massive part of the online sports betting market.

Of course, in the north, ice hockey is king. Any sportsbook that wants to capture the hearts and minds of Canadian bettors has to make creating a fantastic hockey betting experience an incredibly high priority.

There are certain elements that can make or break an online sportsbook's hockey offerings, including the range of betting markets offered, the live betting experience, the depth of futures betting markets offered, the opportunity to create your own parlays, and how the sportsbook's odds compare to the competition. Offering users a top-notch hockey betting experience is paramount and Canadian bettors would be wise to choose their next sportsbook wisely.

While Hockey may be king, there's no denying that football is an incredibly fun sport to bet on as well.

Whether you're an NFL fan in Ontario or a diehard CFL supporter in Saskatchewan, we can all find a fun way to bet on the weekend action. The pauses in between plays allow for great live betting opportunities, while the unique scoring system adds another layer of sophistication of determining who will or won't (especially if I've dropped a few loonies on them) cover the spread. Football bettors love to take advantage of single and multi-game parlays, as well as future bets.

I know I personally love to choose a bunch of results from the Sunday afternoon slot and throw them into outrageous parlays to track while I watch NFL RedZone.

A sport that's had a sharp rise in popularity amongst Canadian bettors in recent years is basketball. Whether it's just a natural progression, the rise of the Raps into perennial contention (#WeTheNorth), basketball has increased in both viewership and participation amongst Canadians. We've even developed big-name players, like Andrew Wiggins and RJ Barrett! And who could forget the simple fact that the game was originally created by Canadian James Naismith, although the peach basket idea was maybe not the best.

It's only logical that the betting markets would grow, just as the fanbase has. Key features basketball bettors require include a quick live betting experience, a generous suite of single-game player props to create deep Same Game Parlays, and a large slate of daily promotions to keep them coming back through the long NBA season.

It may be hard to believe from a Canadian perspective, but soccer is by far the most popular and dominant sport to watch, play, and bet on in the world. Not hockey, not football - soccer.

Of course, in our more interconnected world, soccer has risen in popularity here in Canada as well. In addition to our three Canadian MLS teams - CF Montréal, Toronto FC, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC - achieving varying levels of success, Canadian national team star Alphonso Davies is one of the best left-backs in the world and a star player for major German team Bayern Munich.

just like a rising tide lifts all boats, the rise in soccer's popularity in Canada also leads to a rise in betting interest. Sportsbooks in Canada now have to put an emphasis on providing a premium soccer betting experience. Soccer bettors require a sportsbook to offer a deep suite of single-game props for Same Game Parlays, a wide variety of foreign leagues to bet on, and even the chance to live stream some foreign leagues directly through the sportsbook.

Just like we gave them Drake, America has given Canadians their national pastime, baseball. Whether you're a Blue Jays fan whose favorite player is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or a bitter former Montreal Expos fan whose favorite player was Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (the real first family of Canada, I say) we can all kick back during the summer watch 9 innings.

Betting on baseball has been around as long as the game itself and with each team having 162 game regular season, there is always plenty of chances to get in on the action. Because of this massive season, baseball bettors look for a generous amount of daily promotions, nice futures betting options, and a smooth user experience that won't let you down at any point during the dog days of summer.

Many sportsbooks also offer online casinos to their users, in an effort to provide bettors with the most in-depth betting experience possible. This helps them stand out from the competition and gives you even more options for how you want to wager.

An online casino is a great way to expand your horizons as a bettor and ensure that you're having a nice, diverse betting experience. Feeling lucky after your 3-team parlay hits on Sunday? Sportsbooks with online casinos allow you to take your winnings over to the virtual roulette wheel and bet it all on black.

An online sportsbook with an integrated casino platform allows you more ways to bet, so the fun doesn't have to stop when the action does.