How to Check Who Licensed a Casino

Why a footer proves nothing on its own

A licence number and a seal in a footer are printed by the site about itself. Anyone can print them, and cloned sites routinely copy a legitimate operator's details word for word.

The check is the register the licence supposedly comes from. It takes about two minutes and it is worth doing before you deposit rather than after something goes wrong.

If it claims to be provincially licensed

Provinces that run open markets publish a list of the operators and sites they have registered, and that list is the authority rather than the site's own claim.

Ontario's is maintained by iGaming Ontario and names both the operator and each gaming website it is allowed to run. Alberta has run its own market since 13 July 2026. In provinces with a government monopoly the position is simpler still: there is one official site, and anything else claiming provincial approval is misrepresenting itself.

If it is licensed outside Canada

Find the licensing authority and the licence number in the operator's terms, then check the authority's own register rather than trusting the badge.

Two things are worth confirming. That the licence is current, because a lapsed one often stays on the site. And that the company named on the licence is the company named in the site's own terms — a mismatch between them is the pattern a cloned or resold operation produces.

What the answer actually tells you

• Provincially licensed: a Canadian regulator has authority, an escalation route exists, and provincial self-exclusion reaches it.
• Licensed offshore, and it checks out: it is a real licence from a real authority, and what that is worth depends on which authority. There is no Canadian oversight.
• Claims a licence that is not on the register: stop. That is the pattern of a clone, and it is the clearest signal you will get.
• No licence claim at all: there is nothing to check, and nobody to escalate to.

What a licence does not tell you

A licence is a floor, not a recommendation. It says an operator is subject to some set of rules and can be acted against for breaking them. It says nothing about whether the bonus terms are reasonable, whether withdrawals are quick, or whether support is any good.

Those you judge separately, and the fastest way to start is to open the live chat and ask one specific question before you register.