iGaming Ontario published its latest monthly market performance report this morning, and the April 2026 numbers set new April records across all four headline metrics. The province's licensed operators processed CAD $9.32 billion in total cash wagers, generated $405.4 million in non-adjusted gross gaming revenue (NAGGR), saw 1,265,000 active player accounts, and recorded a record $321 in average revenue per active player account (ARPPA).
Compared to April 2025 — itself a record at the time — every metric is meaningfully higher: wagers up 19.5%, revenue up 29.4%, active accounts up 15.9%, and ARPPA up 11.8%. Compared to March 2026, the picture is more nuanced: total wagers pulled back 3% from a strong March, but revenue climbed 5% as the market continues to convert each dollar wagered more efficiently than it did a year ago.
Handle Cools, Revenue Climbs
The most interesting story in the April data isn't the headline wager number — it's the divergence between handle and revenue. Total cash wagers fell 3% month-over-month from March 2026's $9.59 billion, but NAGGR rose 5% from $386.9 million. That gap is the kind of detail that tells you something about the shape of the market: players are betting slightly less in total, but the revenue per dollar wagered is climbing.
Look at the trajectory of ARPPA. In April 2025, the average player account generated $287 in revenue for operators. Twelve months later, that same account is worth $321 — an 11.8% increase. Operators are not just retaining players; they're monetizing them more effectively, whether through higher game RTPs, more time on site, or a more concentrated mix of higher-margin casino products. The iGO report doesn't break out causation, but the trend line is unmistakable.
That said, April 2026 still falls short of the all-time monthly records set in late 2025. December 2025 remains the peak at $9.50 billion in wagers and $425.6 million in NAGGR. April 2026 ranks as the second-highest revenue month and the third-highest handle month in the market's four-year history — which, given the seasonal patterns of online gambling (a quiet Q1 typically, followed by a stronger Q4), puts the year on track to comfortably exceed 2025's $4.04 billion full-year record.
Online Casinos Still Dominate, Betting Has a Big Month
Online casino games remained the largest segment of the market, accounting for 87% of total wagers ($8.14 billion) and 77% of revenue ($314.1 million). Casino wagers were down 2% from March and casino revenue slipped 1% — small movements in either direction, consistent with a mature segment absorbing player attention without dramatic swings.
Sports betting, by contrast, had a notable month. Betting handle came in at $1.045 billion, down 3% from March, but betting NAGGR jumped 40% month-over-month to $86 million — the highest single-month betting revenue figure in the dataset since at least the start of 2024. The April surge likely reflects the back end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons, the opening of the MLB schedule, and the start of the NBA and NHL playoffs. With a strong run of fixtures and the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals still to come in May and June, betting revenue should continue to track well above the soft March baseline.
Peer-to-peer poker continues to be a small but stable slice of the market. Poker wagers fell 30% to $128 million in April — a typical post-Easter seasonal pattern, as the spring tournament calendar is lighter than the WSOP-online qualifying weeks that run through May and June. Poker NAGGR was $5.3 million, down 24% from March.
Player Count: 1.265 Million and Climbing
The number of monthly active player accounts is one of the more telling data points in the report. At 1,265,000, April 2026 set a new all-time high for the second consecutive month. The active-account figure has been on a clear upward trend since the fall: 1.287 million in October 2025, 1.299 million in November, 1.277 million in December, 1.327 million in January 2026, 1.305 million in February, 1.240 million in March, and now 1.265 million in April.
It's worth flagging what "active player accounts" means in this context. As iGaming Ontario's methodology note explains, an active account is any account with cash or promotional wagering activity during the reporting month — and an individual player may hold accounts with multiple operators. So the 1.265 million figure is best read as the number of operator-issued accounts that saw activity, not the number of unique Ontarians gambling. Still, the direction is unambiguous: more Ontarians are opening accounts, more are using them, and more are doing so through regulated AGCO-licensed operators rather than the grey market.
This is consistent with iGaming Ontario's most recent Ipsos channelization study, which found that 91.1% of Ontario online gamblers used regulated sites in Year 4 (April 2025 through March 2026) — up from 83.7% the year before. Our earlier coverage of the channelization milestone and what it means for player protections walks through the policy backdrop in more detail.
What $405 Million in Revenue Means for the Province
Ontario collects a 20% tax on gross gaming revenue from licensed iGaming operators. Apply that to April 2026's $405.4 million in NAGGR and you get roughly $81 million in provincial gaming tax for the month alone. That's a meaningful line item in the provincial budget — and it's why the government's continued investment in iGO and the AGCO's enforcement apparatus is unlikely to slow down.
For context, the market generated just over $4.04 billion in NAGGR for all of 2025, producing roughly $808 million in annual tax revenue at the 20% rate. Cumulative tax revenue since the market launched in April 2022 has now crossed the $2 billion mark. The trajectory through April 2026 puts the province on pace for another $800M+ year if growth holds anywhere near current levels.
Operator Churn in the Background
The April numbers are a useful counterweight to the operator-exit story that dominated headlines earlier in the spring. Conquestador shut down in mid-April, Casumo is winding down its Ontario business, and BetNova entered the market. Our earlier coverage of the operator shuffle and what it means for Ontario players walks through the players' side of those transitions. What's notable is that even with two operators leaving the market mid-month, total wagering volume grew 19.5% year-over-year. The market's depth — 46 licensed operators running 75+ sites as of late May — easily absorbs the departure of any single brand.
On the player-protection side, April 2026 also marked the first full month of BetGuard's live operation. The centralized self-exclusion system went live in early May 2026, and iGO's monthly report does not yet break out enrollment numbers. But the system covers all 48 operators and 75+ sites, so any player who opts out is opted out everywhere. Expect enrolment to ramp through Q2 and Q3 as the marketing push and operator integration work continues.
What to Watch in May and June
Three things will define the next iGO monthly report:
1. The NBA and NHL playoffs. The Stanley Cup Final is in early June; the NBA Finals stretch into late May and early June. A deep playoff run from a Toronto team (or, in the case of hockey, an Ottawa or Edmonton team with a strong fan base in Ontario) typically drives handle spikes in the sportsbook segment. Watch the betting NAGGR line — if it stays above $80M in May or June, the operator base is converting playoff attention into revenue efficiently.
2. The summer slowdown pattern. Historical data shows June and July tend to be the softest months of the year for Ontario's market. June 2025 dropped to $7.26 billion in wagers and $306.8 million in NAGGR — a meaningful step back from spring levels. If the pattern repeats, expect May or June to print a smaller revenue figure than April. That's normal and not a story on its own; the story is whether ARPPA stays above $300 through the summer.
3. Alberta's launch. Alberta is targeting July 13, 2026 as the go-live date for its own regulated iGaming market, with 28 operators already pre-registered. Several Ontario-headquartered operators (Betway's parent Super Group, BetMGM, FanDuel) are also positioning for Alberta. The competitive impact on Ontario will be minimal in the near term, but the cross-border player flow is worth tracking through the second half of the year. Our wagering requirements guide has a section on evaluating offers across provincial markets that will become more relevant as Alberta sites come online.
The Bottom Line
April 2026 was the strongest April in Ontario iGaming history. Every headline metric — handle, revenue, active accounts, ARPPA — set a new April record. The market is no longer growing primarily on the back of new signups: it's growing on the back of better monetization of the player base that already exists. That's a more sustainable growth model than the early-2022-to-2024 acquisition phase, and it's a sign the market is entering a mature, competitive phase where operators compete on product quality, bonus terms, and player experience rather than on raw scale.
For Ontario players, the takeaway is straightforward. The market is healthy, growing, and operating under one of the strongest regulatory frameworks in North America. Stick to AGCO-licensed operators, use the responsible gambling tools available on every licensed site (and now BetGuard, if you want a single-application self-exclusion), and remember that the operator you're playing with is being held to standards that the grey-market alternatives simply don't meet.