Sweepstakes casinos are embroiled in US legal drama at the moment. The popular ‘free-to-play’ online casinos, seen on SweepsPlays, are set to generate $3.6bn from American player purchases this year yet have been banned in California, New York, Maine, and a handful of other states following recent legal controversies. It all stems from the prize-winning dual-currency model used by these casinos that mimics real-life gambling extremely closely. Yet over the border, Canada has yet to take any legal stance against them at all, leaving the door open for US operators to take advantage of the untapped Canadian market.
The Sweepstakes Casino Market is Growing in Canada
With a growing number of states in the US opting to crackdown on sweepstakes casinos, the Canadian sweepstakes market has started experiencing slight growth now that a significant number of operators have started accepting Canadian players.
Crown Coins Casino has a fast-growing player count in Canada and is the most widely used operator by players, while the likes of WOW Vegas and Fortune Wins Casino all currently accept Canadian sign-ups.
Interestingly, VGW, the parent company behind the ultra-popular Chumba Casino and LuckyLand Coins sweepstakes casinos, exited Canada at the end of 2025, labelling the Canadian sweepstakes casino market as “relatively small” while acknowledging that “the vast majority of our players reside in the larger US market.”
However, since then, Laurence Escalante has resigned as VGW CEO and both Maine and Indiana have banned sweepstakes casinos, so a potential return to the Canadian market is on the cards for VGW following its recent growth.
Compared to the US, it’s true that Canada’s sweepstakes casino space pales in comparison, but the rising number of US state-led bans is likely going to encourage these casino operators to start branching out even more to the Canadian and Australian “grey” markets, where there are currently no active restrictions against these casinos.
Fortune Coins Debuts in Eight Canadian Provinces, Along with Rolla Casino
This is something that Fortune Coins and Rolla Casino have recently decided to do, with Fortune Coins debuting in eight Canadian provinces.
Despite not being available in Ontario or Quebec, due to these two provinces having stricter existing gambling laws that prohibit grey area gambling, Fortune Coins is now up there as one of the most popular sweepstakes casinos in Canada.
Rolla Casino also recently joined Canada’s sweepstakes market and is even available in Ontario.
The coming years will almost certainly see even more US-based sweepstakes casinos attempt to get Canadian players on board now that a sizable chunk of states in the US have taken an anti-sweepstakes casino stance.
They need to recoup lost revenue and player counts somehow, and it appears like the Canada could be used as a stepping stone to make up for that.
Alberta Opens Online Gambling Market, Following On From Ontario
If Canada’s sweepstakes casino market explodes the way many expect it to, one of the driving forces behind this could be Canada’s evolving attitude towards online gambling.
Canada has always been traditionally pro-online gambling, but with a strong leaning towards player protection and the promotion of responsible gambling.
As of July 13, 2026, Alberta has officially opened its online gambling market, allowing both sports betting and online casino operators run by private commercial operators to gain access to Canadian players.
This follows on from Alberta, which did the same thing back in 2022, having also opened its market to private gambling operators.
It’s a positive sign for sweepstakes casino operators, who despite being part of a grey area market will potentially be able to benefit from Canada’s positive stance towards wider online gambling.
Why California, New York, and Other States in the US Have Cracked Down on the Popular iGaming Vertical
Over in the US, the reason why states like California and New York have passed legislative bills against sweepstakes casinos is because these casinos mimic real-life gambling too closely.
In online sweepstakes casinos, players don’t bet real cash and must instead alternate between free-play ‘Gold Coins’ or prize-winning ‘Sweeps Coins’.
Any player that collects enough Sweeps Coins can then exchange those coins for prizes, including gift cards and cash transfers, which effectively makes it a type of unregulated gambling.
In the eyes of a growing number of US states, this type of grey area gambling couldn’t go any longer without being addressed, as these casinos effectively had free reign of the US market from the late 2010s all the way up to 2024.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is especially critical of this new iGaming vertical:
“Online sweepstakes casinos are illegal, dangerous, and can seriously ruin people’s finances.”
Simply put, the growing view is that sweepstakes casinos are using a legal loophole via virtual coins to allow them to keep operating in a legal grey area, which is why so many states are starting to go against them.
Florida is also in the process of advancing legalisation to have sweepstakes casinos banned, although Maryland lawmakers recently declined to pass HB 295 and HB 1226, marking a rare win for sweepstakes operators.
Before the end of 2026, it’s highly likely that at least a couple more states in the US will ultimately kick sweepstakes casinos out of state borders, something that could boost the Canadian sweepstakes market even further.
There’s Plenty of Potential for the Canadian Sweepstakes Market
Something that can be said for certain is that the Canadian sweepstakes market has huge potential from the perspective of sweepstakes casino operators.
Despite the fact there are currently no Canada-only sweepstakes casinos on the market, existing US operators like Fortune Coins have proven that there’s somewhat of a demand from Canadian players for these sweepstakes sites.
And following recent bans in the US, operators are going to keep turning to the Canadian market in an attempt to recoup revenue streams they’ve now been cut from.
As for whether Canadian provinces will look to crack down on sweepstakes casinos remains to be seen, but Canada’s recent pro-online gambling movements make this seem unlikely.
For now, at least, the grey area sweepstakes casino market in Canada will maintain the freedom to stay active, and you can expect US operators to start jumping at the chance to take advantage of it.
