Canada’s investment regulator bars dealers from sports and entertainment prediction contracts

Sports and entertainment prediction contracts have no place in Canada’s securities system. A joint notice of 27 August 2026 from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), the pan-Canadian self-regulatory body that oversees investment dealers, says such contracts should not be regulated under securities law, and CIRO staff do not consider it appropriate to approve applications from its dealers to trade them. Betting on sport stays where it has always been: with the provinces.

The August guidance

An event contract pays out according to whether a stated event happens. The joint CSA and CIRO notice, Staff Notice 91-307, said that, in the CSA’s view, event contracts based on sports and entertainment events or outcomes should not be regulated within securities and derivatives legislation, and that CIRO does not consider it appropriate to approve applications by its dealer members to trade them. “It is important for investors and market participants to understand that event contracts based on sports- or entertainment-related activities or outcomes should not be regulated within securities and derivatives legislation,” said Stan Magidson, CSA Chair and Chair and CEO of the Alberta Securities Commission, in the joint release. The regulators added that the status of other types of event contracts was still being assessed.

What dealers may still offer

According to the joint release, two CIRO dealer members have been authorized to facilitate trading in a limited set of event contracts. The Globe and Mail names them as Wealthsimple and Interactive Brokers. BNN Bloomberg reported that Wealthsimple started offering prediction markets through its Predict app in July 2026.

CIRO set the terms for those dealers in a bulletin of 26 March 2026. They may offer contracts on economic forecasts, such as inflation, central bank rates, jobs and housing; on environmental forecasts, such as average global temperature; and on financial indicators, such as contracts that settle on the price of S&P 500 futures. Contracts on elections or other political events are excluded, every contract must run for at least 30 days, and clients may not use leverage or margin. The contracts trade and clear on US exchanges regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and a dealer that wants to go beyond the permitted list must first notify CIRO. A contract listed in the United States is not automatically available here.

Why sports bets stay with the provinces

Saying that sports contracts are not securities does not make them unregulated. Betting on sport is gambling, and gambling in Canada is governed by the Criminal Code. Section 207 makes it lawful for “the government of a province” to “conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province” in accordance with provincial law. Since a 2021 amendment, the only betting that paragraph 207(4)(b) leaves out of the definition of a lottery scheme is betting on horse races, so betting on a sports event falls under the provincial system.

In practice that means one of two models. Ontario and Alberta license private operators under provincial oversight, and the other provinces offer online gambling through a government-run platform. Our guide to whether online gambling is legal in Canada sets out the rules province by province, and our licensing and regulation guide explains who licenses what.

The Canadian Gaming Association welcomed the August guidance. “Sports wagering is sports betting, whatever the platform, and it belongs within the framework that provinces have built specifically to regulate it,” said its president and CEO, Paul Burns, in a statement.

What about the US prediction-market headlines?

Headlines about US prediction markets do not change the position in Canada. A product described as a “prediction” or a “contract” is treated according to what it does: a sports contract is outside securities law, and sports betting is a provincial matter under the Criminal Code.

Polymarket, an offshore prediction market, shows how this works in practice. In April 2025, Ontario’s Capital Markets Tribunal approved a settlement between the Ontario Securities Commission and the companies behind Polymarket. They paid a $200,000 administrative penalty and gave an undertaking to the commission to prevent Ontario residents from using Polymarket.

What it means for players

Canadian law provides one route for sports betting: the system your province has set up, either a site licensed in Ontario or Alberta or your province’s own platform elsewhere. A product that calls itself a prediction market, an exchange or a contract does not sit outside those rules. The minimum age is 19 in Ontario and 18 in Alberta. Our responsible gambling guide lists the tools and support available in each province.

Gambling can be addictive. Please play responsibly and within your means.