Provincial sportsbooks in Canada compared: PROLINE+, PlayNow, Mise-o-jeu+, PlayAlberta and Sport Select

If you bet on sports in Canada through a provincial lottery corporation, you are using a product that goes by at least six names: PROLINE+, Mise-o-jeu+, PlayNow, PlayAlberta, Pro•Line and Sport Select. They look like competing brands, but they are the retail and online sportsbooks of government lottery bodies, each licensed to serve its own territory. What you can bet on, how old you must be and whether you can walk into a store all depend on where you live.

This guide sorts them out. It also explains the single biggest change in the market: before 2021, you could not legally bet on one game, and after Bill C-218 you can.

What Bill C-218 changed

Bill C-218, the Safe and Regulated Sports Betting Act, received royal assent on June 29, 2021 and became Statutes of Canada 2021, chapter 20. It amended paragraph 207(4)(b) of the Criminal Code so that a province, or an entity licensed by its Lieutenant Governor in Council, may conduct and manage a lottery scheme in the province that involves betting on a race other than a horse race, on a fight, or on a single sport event or athletic contest. Pari-mutuel betting on horse races stays under federal oversight.

The Act came into force on a date fixed by the Governor in Council, and operators went live on August 27, 2021. Before that, the only legal sports wagering through a lottery body was the parlay: you had to pick two or more events and win them all. A bet on a single hockey game was a Criminal Code problem. After the change, each province decides for itself how to offer single-event betting. That is why the Canadian map is a patchwork rather than a national product. For the broader legal picture, see our guide to Canadian gambling laws.

The provincial sportsbooks at a glance

Ages are set by provincial law, and the table shows only what an official or news release stated. If a cell says to check the operator's terms, do that before you register; a product page with no age printed on it is not evidence either way.

Ontario: PROLINE+ and an open market next door

OLG's PROLINE+ went live on August 27, 2021, the day the law took effect. The first bet was placed at 5:03 a.m. on a Milwaukee Brewers game. At launch it was online only, open to anyone 19 or older, with bets accepted before a match or live, from anywhere in the province on any device. OLG said retail single-event wagering would follow in 2022, and by February 2022 it was telling customers they could place single-game wagers at about 10,000 lottery retailers.

Ontario is the exception to the monopoly model. The province also licenses private operators through iGaming Ontario, so PROLINE+ competes with other regulated sportsbooks rather than being the only choice. We cover that side in Ontario legal sportsbooks and casinos. OLG announced in January 2026 that it was partnering with Kambi to power PROLINE and PROLINE+, adding more wager types and esports, according to a public summary of the product's history.

Quebec: Mise-o-jeu+ is the only licensed option

Loto-Québec operates Mise-o-jeu+, and it is the only legal sportsbook in the province. Players register online and are confirmed as Quebec residents aged 18 or older. Loto-Québec offers single-game wagering on Mise-o-jeu+ online and at its retailers. Reports from the 2012 online launch described a pool format that required correctly predicting between two and eight events, so any guide that still says Quebec is parlay-only is out of date.

Quebec's casino platform Espacejeux is separate from the sportsbook. Do not confuse the two when you read reviews.

British Columbia and Manitoba: PlayNow

BCLC began offering single-event bets, plus bets on racing and fighting, on PlayNow.com the day Bill C-218 took effect. Launch-day examples included a BC Lions CFL game and the Seattle Seahawks' home opener. BCLC said at the time that it was exploring land-based channels, including casinos. A public history of the product says BCLC relaunched retail ProLine in 2024 and moved to QR-code tickets only.

Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries enabled single-event wagering on PlayNow on August 27, 2021, and calls PlayNow the province's only legal online gambling site. The corporation's backgrounder says it has a service provider contract with BCLC to deliver PlayNow in Manitoba on BCLC's platform. News coverage at launch described the change as online only.

Alberta, the Prairies and the Atlantic provinces

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) announced the launch of sports betting on PlayAlberta.ca on September 1, 2021, built on NeoPollard Interactive iLottery technology and Sporting Solutions' betting platform. Earlier AGLC material described the expanded options as being for Albertans 18 and older. In stores, Sport Select is the Western Canada Lottery Corporation product, offering ProLine, Over-Under, Point Spread, Pools and Props. WCLC added single-game betting and an online ticket builder in 2021.

Atlantic Lottery offers Pro•Line in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The three first provinces started single-game betting around August 2021. Nova Scotia was the last in the region, launching on February 11, 2022, on the existing Pro•Line platform, both online and at retail locations.

Why single bets matter for your wallet

Parlays were the only legal option for decades, and parlays are expensive. Imagine two games with equal chances for each side and decimal odds of 1.91 on each outcome. A C$20 single bet returns C$38.20 if it wins. Against a fair payout of C$40 for a 50 percent shot, that is a hold of about 4.5 percent.

Now combine two such selections in a parlay. The decimal odds multiply to 3.648, so a C$20 stake returns C$72.96 if both win. The fair payout for a one-in-four chance is C$80, so the hold is about 8.8 percent, nearly double. This calculation assumes both legs are even-money, but the principle holds more widely: each extra leg multiplies the margin. Single-event betting let Canadians stop paying that multiple. Our explainer on sports bet types shows how singles, parlays and props differ.

How to choose and what to check

1. Bet where you live. Each provincial sportsbook is licensed for its own province, and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, for example, describes registered, confirmed Manitoba residents of age of majority.
2. Confirm your age on the operator's own terms; it is 19 in most provinces and 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec.
3. Compare odds and markets across what is legal where you live. In Ontario that includes private licensed operators; see our Canadian sportsbook reviews.
4. Use the operator's player-health tools. Provincial programs such as GameSense and PlaySmart provide limits and information, and ConnexOntario is available at 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents.

Provincial sportsbooks are the baseline: regulated, run for provincial revenue, and tied to local responsible gambling programs. Whether they beat a private operator on price depends on the market, which is why we compare them rather than assume. Our page on provincial casinos covers the casino side of the same operators.