Choosing a sports betting site in Canada: what to compare and in what order
Choose a sports betting site in this order: registration in your province, responsible-gambling tools, payments, house rules, breadth of markets, then the app. Registration is a gate, so a brand that is not registered where you live drops out before any comparison. As of 2026-11-13, this is the order of our method, version 1.0.
Checked by the editorial team on
- 3 min read
- 8 sections
- 2 tables
- 5 FAQ
Step one: registration as a gate
In Ontario (ON), check the iGaming Ontario registry. In Alberta (AB), check the AiGC list of registered iGaming sites. In British Columbia, Québec and Manitoba, the lawful online option is the public platform of the province.
A brand found in one province's registry is not automatically available in another, and you must be physically in the province to bet. Registration is a gate: it decides whether a brand enters the comparison at all.
Checking a sportsbook's registration in five steps shows how.
Steps two to six: the criteria and their weights
| Order | Criterion | Weight | What we read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Responsible-gambling tools | 25 | Limits, breaks and self-exclusion the operator documents |
| 3 | Payments | 20 | Methods, limits and fees on the operator's payment page |
| 4 | House rules | 20 | Rules for overtime, postponement and cancellation |
| 5 | Breadth of markets | 15 | Sports and bet types the operator lists |
| 6 | App and access | 10 | Store listing facts, not speed or design |
| 7 | Agreement among reviews | 10 | How many of the reviews we read put the brand in the top five |
The weights, the items inside each criterion and the date of each recalculation are published on How the standings score is calculated.
Short answer: compare in this order, and let registration remove brands before you compare anything else.
What each criterion looks like in a document
For each criterion we read one operator document. The cells below stay at "Not checked" until the page is read and dated.
| Criterion | Document to read | Example value | URL and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Responsible-gambling tools | Operator's responsible-gambling page | Not checked | Not checked |
| Payments | Operator's payment page | Not checked | Not checked |
| House rules | Operator's sport rules | Not checked | Not checked |
The data tables Payment methods by sportsbook and Safety tools by sportsbook will hold these facts per operator.
What we cannot compare
We do not publish odds, and we have not measured them. We also have not tested any app, so we say nothing about speed, stability or design. The score does not capture those.
You can still look at prices yourself. Odds converter turns American, decimal and fractional odds into one another and shows the implied probability. For a two-way market, it also shows the margin.
Do not treat a score as a prediction of results. Betting involves risk and no comparison changes that.
How we checked
- We took the criteria and the weights from our method, version 1.0.
- We ordered the checks so that protections come before convenience.
- We kept every operator-specific cell at "Not checked" until an operator page is read.
Sources
- iGaming Ontario registry
- Alberta AiGC list
- Operator payment, rules and responsible-gambling pages: read per operator and dated.
What changed
- : page created with the order and the version 1.0 weights.
Before you bet
19+ in Ontario and British Columbia; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Québec. Gambling involves risk. Play responsibly. Need help? See help lines by province.
FAQ
What is the first thing to check about a sports betting site?
Whether it is registered in your province. In Ontario, look in the iGaming Ontario registry. In Alberta, look on the AiGC list. In British Columbia, Québec and Manitoba, the lawful online option is the public platform.
What are the weights in your score?
Version 1.0: responsible-gambling tools 25, payments 20, house rules for sports 20, breadth of markets 15, app and access 10, agreement among reviews 10. Registration is a gate, not part of the score.
Can you compare odds between sportsbooks?
We do not publish or compare odds. We have not tested prices. You can convert any odds you see with the odds converter and read off the implied probability and the margin of a two-way market.
Can you tell which app is best?
No. We can record facts from the store listings, such as the version and date, but we do not measure speed or ease of use. A statement about which app is best would need tests we did not run.
In what order should I compare the criteria?
Registration, then responsible-gambling tools, payments, house rules, markets and the app. The order puts the checks that protect you before the ones about convenience.