The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has issued Orders of Monetary Penalties of $40,000 each to Relax Gaming and Arrise Solutions, after finding that both companies allowed their casino games to be featured on unregulated gaming websites accessible to Ontario players.
The enforcement action, announced May 7, 2026, represents the latest in a series of regulatory moves designed to squeeze the supply chain feeding Ontario's remaining grey-market operators — operators who continue to serve Canadian players from outside the province's licensed framework.
What the AGCO Found
According to the AGCO's published findings, both Relax Gaming and Arrise Solutions are registered gaming-related suppliers under Ontario's iGaming framework. That registration comes with clear obligations: registered suppliers must not enable their products to circulate on unregulated platforms that accept Ontario players.
The violation in this case was straightforward — both companies had agreements or distribution arrangements that resulted in their game content appearing on websites operating outside Ontario's regulated market. For Ontario players, these sites may look like legitimate online casinos, but they lack AGCO licensing and fall outside the province's player protection framework.
The AGCO's Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming — which took effect when Ontario's open market launched in April 2022 — are explicit on this point. Standard 1.22 requires that registered participants, including game studios and platform suppliers, sever ties with unregulated operators actively serving the Ontario market. The transition period for compliance ended in 2022, and the AGCO has signalled for years that enforcement actions like this one would follow.
Why the Supply Chain Matters
Relax Gaming is a well-known game studio with a broad portfolio of online slot and table game titles distributed across licensed Ontario operators. Its games appear at many AGCO-licensed casinos, which makes the regulatory exposure more notable: the company has skin in the Ontario market and is evidently active here, but still had content on unregulated sites.
Arrise Solutions, the parent company of Relax Gaming, occupies a similar position — a registered Ontario supplier with legitimate distribution agreements in place, but apparently also maintaining relationships with non-compliant platforms.
The AGCO's focus on the supply chain is deliberate. Regulators have long understood that grey-market operators depend on game studios to power their platforms. If those studios are cut off — or face meaningful financial penalties for supplying both markets — the economics of operating an unregulated site serving Ontario players become far less attractive.
A Pattern of Escalating Enforcement
This action fits within a broader trend. The AGCO has been progressively more aggressive in its enforcement posture since the market's second year. In early 2026, the regulator moved to suspend PointsBet Canada's iGaming registration for five days — the first such action in Ontario's regulated industry — after finding the operator failed to report suspicious NBA betting activity involving former NBA player Jontay Porter.
That enforcement action was followed by a separate $350,000 penalty against FanDuel Canada for failing to identify and report suspicious wagering activity tied to Czech table tennis matches in 2024. Together, these cases signal that the AGCO is actively monitoring operator behaviour across multiple dimensions — not just game content, but betting integrity and suspicious activity reporting too.
For Relax Gaming and Arrise Solutions, the $40,000 penalty per company may seem modest compared to the FanDuel fine. But the message is clear: even registered suppliers who play in Ontario's regulated market must fully exit the grey market, and the AGCO is watching closely.
What Ontario Players Should Know
If you've been playing at a site that isn't on our list of AGCO-licensed operators, this enforcement action is a reminder to check your platform's credentials. Regulated Ontario casinos are required to display their AGCO registration prominently, and the AGCO maintains a public registry of licensed operators and suppliers.
Playing at an unregulated site means you're outside Ontario's player protection framework. Your deposits aren't protected by provincial standards, your games haven't been independently tested for fairness, and you have limited recourse if disputes arise. The AGCO's ongoing enforcement actions are ultimately aimed at steering players toward the protected end of the market.
For players who want to verify whether a site is licensed, the AGCO's website allows you to search for registered operators. If a site isn't listed, it's operating outside Ontario's legal framework — regardless of whether it looks polished, accepts Canadian dollars, or markets itself as a "Canadian casino."
The Bigger Picture
Ontario's iGaming market has been a regulatory success story by most measures. As of 2025, the province was handling nearly $100 billion in annual wagers, with over 84% of Ontario online gamblers using regulated sites. But that still leaves roughly one in six players on unregulated platforms — a channelization gap that the AGCO has identified as a top priority.
Supply-chain enforcement is one of the tools available to close that gap. By holding registered game studios accountable for where their content appears, the AGCO raises the cost of grey-market operations for everyone in the supply chain. More enforcement actions of this type can be expected as the regulator continues to tighten the frame around Ontario's unregulated market.
Stay tuned to our Ontario iGaming overview for continued coverage of regulatory developments and market updates.