Vancouver’s gambling industry sits at an odd crossroads. Parq Casino, the city’s main gaming floor, pulled in $145 million in the 2023/2024 fiscal year. At the same time, BCLC’s online platform PlayNow.com has been losing ground to offshore competitors, with its provincial market share sliding from 59% to 49% between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2024. The question of acceleration deserves a closer look at what the numbers actually show.
What the Revenue Figures Tell Us
BCLC generated $1.5 billion in net income for British Columbia in 2024. Of that total, $1 billion funded public programs including education. The corporation runs 36 casinos and community gaming centres across the province, operates the PROLINE sportsbook, and manages PlayNow.com as the province’s only regulated online gambling platform.
The iGaming segment saw its revenue more than double during pandemic years. Those levels have held steady even as illegal sites increased advertising and offered aggressive player acquisition bonuses. BCLC projected a 7% revenue increase for fiscal 2024/25 in its online channel. Growth started to plateau after a record-breaking fiscal 2022/23, with illegal operators taking a larger slice of player spending.
Casino, community gaming, and bingo operations brought in $1.87 billion to BCLC in 2023/24. Over 39 years, the corporation has generated more than $29 billion in net income for provincial, municipal, and charitable programs.
How Players Access Games Across Provincial Borders
British Columbia residents can place bets through PlayNow.com, the province’s regulated platform, but many also turn to offshore sites or platforms licensed in other provinces. Ontario opened its market to private operators in 2022, and some of those services attract users from neighbouring regions. Playing casino games in Canada now spans provincial lottery corporations, First Nations-operated venues, and grey market websites that collectively pull in billions each year.
BCLC’s market share dropped from 59% in fiscal 2021 to 49% in fiscal 2024, according to H2 Gambling Capital. Unregulated operators have grown more aggressive with bonuses and advertising, drawing players away from government-run sites despite weaker consumer protections.
Vancouver’s Land-Based Casino Problem
Parq Casino’s 2023/2024 revenue broke down to $75 million from table games and $70 million from slot machines. The City of Vancouver received $6 million from those revenues.
The casino has submitted an application to increase its slot machine count by 50%, from 600 to 900. According to that application, Parq has the lowest slot machine density among Lower Mainland casinos. The existing mix fails to meet demand. About two-thirds of gambling revenue from Vancouver residents goes to casinos outside the city, elsewhere in the Lower Mainland.
This statistic matters. BCLC representative Lara Gerrits noted that 67% of gambling spending by Vancouver residents leaves the city entirely. Current facilities reach capacity after major events. The population has grown by 22% since Vancouver implemented its gambling expansion moratorium in 2011.
The Moratorium and Its End
Vancouver city council voted 5 to 3 in May 2024 to amend the moratorium on gambling expansion that had stood since 2011. BCLC pointed out that the city has grown by an estimated 22% over those 15 years while gambling options remained frozen.
Hastings Racecourse operates under different rules. Regulations permit up to 600 slot machines there, but no table games. The facility currently has 446 slot machines on a 42,000 square foot casino floor beneath horse racing grandstands.
The future of Hastings took a sharp turn in late 2025. On November 27, the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association learned that British Columbia Solicitor General Nina Krieger would stop slot machine subsidies to racing operations at the end of January 2026. Eight days later, Hastings Racecourse management announced the end of live thoroughbred racing. The casino stays open.
In June 2025, Tsleil-Waututh Nation announced a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to acquire the casino business and related property at Hastings from Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.
Player Behaviour Data
BCLC’s Player Health Tracker Report, completed by Ipsos Research in July 2024, found troubling patterns. Younger casino players in British Columbia have been increasing high-risk gambling behaviours. Gambling literacy declined over the prior year.
Ipsos found that online players showed stronger belief in gambling myths and more problematic behaviours compared to retail players. Their pre-commitment habits, such as setting spending limits, and overall gambling literacy were weaker.
Technical reports from 2024 indicated that over 60% of online gamblers in regulated provinces accessed grey market sites.
The National Picture
Online gambling revenue across Canada is expected to reach $4.19 billion in 2024, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 6.4%, expanding to $5.71 billion by 2029. Total gambling revenue in Canada will hit an estimated $15.6 billion by the close of 2025. By 2029, the sector will reach an estimated $17.5 billion. Online gaming, rather than sportsbooks, is driving most of that growth.
PlayNow.com has more than 284,000 players. A 5% change in overall PlayNow revenue represents a $25 million annual impact.
What BCLC Acknowledges
BCLC stated that the casino market has matured. First Nations have expressed interest in equitable participation in the provincial gaming industry. Consumers increasingly seek online options for entertainment. The corporation developed a new five-year corporate strategy in response, focused on engaging player offerings and responsible growth.
The corporation acknowledged that its two major channels, lottery and casino, are mature and face growth problems in the coming years. Revenue increases for fiscal 2025/26 are modest. Margins remain sensitive to product mix changes. Revenues from these channels come from a core, aging player base.
The Acceleration Question
The data suggests a qualified yes. Online gambling revenue doubled during the pandemic years and has held at those levels. BCLC’s regulated platform has lost 10 percentage points of market share in 3 years, but that share went largely to unregulated offshore operators rather than representing a net loss in online activity.
Land-based casinos in Vancouver face physical constraints and regulatory limits that have been loosened only recently. Parq cannot meet demand with its current slot count. Most Vancouver gambling money already leaves the city.
The acceleration is real, but the regulated platform has not captured most of the growth. Grey market sites have absorbed much of the increase in online play. Vancouver’s brick-and-mortar options have been artificially constrained by a 15 year old moratorium that no longer matches population realities.
What happens next depends on how quickly Parq’s expansion proceeds, whether Tsleil-Waututh completes the Hastings acquisition, and how effectively BCLC competes with offshore operators offering bonuses the regulated platform cannot match.