How to Check an Online Casino Licence

Knowing how to check a casino licence comes down to one test: the regulator's own public register must show the same company, licence and website that the casino's footer claims. Players in Canada meet registered sites in Ontario and Alberta, provincial lottery sites, and offshore casinos licensed in Kahnawà:ke, Curaçao, Malta or Anjouan. This part of our casino payout guides shows where each licence is recorded and what it does for your payouts.

Where an Online Casino Shows Its Licence

A licensed site usually shows its licence in several of these places:

• A licence statement naming the regulator in the site footer.
• A regulator seal or logo that opens a certificate page.
• The operating company's legal name in the terms and conditions.
• A company registration number printed next to that name.
• A licence number or issue date beside the regulator's name.

Curaçao's licence conditions require the registered company name and number, the licence issue date and duration, the regulator's name and its digital seal on the public site. A footer naming a regulator without a company or number gives you nothing to look up.

How to Check a Casino Licence in Six Steps

The routine is the same for every regulator:

1. Note the regulator, licence number and company name from the footer.
2. Click the seal and read the address of the page it opens.
3. Open the regulator's register from the regulator's own website.
4. Search the register by company name, licence number or website address.
5. Compare the status, company name and domain with the footer.
6. Save a dated screenshot of the register entry.

Step 3 matters because a seal can lead to a look-alike page. The screenshot records which licence applied when you played, which helps if a withdrawal turns into a complaint.

Official Casino Licence Registers for Players in Canada

Each regulator publishes its record differently, and only some tie the licence to a website, as checked in November 2026:

Ontario and Alberta Registered Operators

Under section 207 of the Criminal Code provinces conduct and manage gambling; Ontario (since 4 April 2022) and Alberta (since 13 July 2026) also register private operators. The iGaming Ontario directory listed 84 websites from 49 operators on 1 September 2026, and those sites show the iGaming Ontario and BetGuard logos. In Alberta, AGLC registers operators and the Alberta iGaming Corporation publishes a directory of registered sites.

Provincial Lottery Casino Sites

Elsewhere the legal online casino is the province's own: PlayNow in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Loto-Québec in Quebec, PlayAlberta, and Atlantic Lottery in the four Atlantic provinces. They run under section 207, not an outside licence, so the check is the address: reach the site from the lottery corporation's official pages.

Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission Permit Holders

The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission licenses gaming from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke, in Quebec. Its permit holders page pairs each operator with its website addresses, but still read "Updated September 28, 2023" in November 2026. For current standing, click the commission's logo on the site: it should open a Certificate of Good Standing drawn from the commission's database.

Curaçao Licence Check Under the LOK

Curaçao's National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) took effect on 24 December 2024, and the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA) now licenses online gaming. Its licence register links a PDF registry, updated on 5 November 2026 with 667 numbered entries. Each entry shows:

• A licence number in the CGA or OGL format.
• The licensee's name and company registration number.
• The issue date and expiry date.
• A status such as indefinite, assessment in progress or expired.

The registry lists no domains, so a Curaçao licence check ends at the seal. Player-facing operators must show the CGA Certificate of Operation Seal, which must open a certificate on cert.cga.cw naming the exact domain you are on, the operator and its licence status. A separate enforcement register listed 31 revoked licences on 14 September 2026.

MGA Licensed Casinos in the Licensee Register

To find MGA licensed casinos, search the Malta Gaming Authority's Licensee Register by licensee name, authorisation status, URL or gaming service; the MGA's dynamic seal on a licensee's site adds details. Search by website address first, then by the footer's company name. On 16 July 2026 the MGA warned of websites impersonating its licensees, and it keeps a public list of unauthorised URLs.

Anjouan Licences Without a Verified Register

Anjouan licences were common at offshore casinos in our November 2026 checks, but we could not verify an official register for them. The website presenting itself as Anjouan's gaming regulator sits on a commercial .com domain and lists no street address or named officials. We treat an Anjouan seal or register page as unconfirmed.

Red Flags When a Casino Licence Does Not Check Out

A failed check usually shows up as one of these mismatches:

Curaçao's certification policy says a certificate showing another domain belongs to another operator, and a seal that differs in design, colour or format is not authorised. The MGA's advice is the same: use a gaming service only after confirming the Authority has authorised it.

What a Casino Licence Means for Your Payouts

A licence decides who hears your complaint if a withdrawal stalls, not how fast the money arrives:

In 2025 the Kahnawà:ke commission upheld 150 of the 746 complaints it resolved, about one in five, so a licence buys a hearing, not a result. The AGCO and AGLC take complaints only about the sites they regulate. When a casino won't pay out, our guide on what to do if a casino won't pay sets out the full complaint order.

What a Casino Licence Does Not Guarantee

A licence that checks out still leaves several questions open:

• Whether the games run certified random number generators.
• How fast the casino approves and sends a withdrawal.
• Which withdrawal caps and bonus rules apply to you.

In Ontario, games must be approved by the Registrar or certified by a registered independent testing lab; a casino RNG audit shows what those labs test.

Licence Checks and Our Payout Tests by Method

A licence check rules sites out but does not show which of the rest pay quickly. All 17 of our October 2026 test withdrawals at offshore casinos paid, and the method mattered more than the footer:

Each test was €100 to €150 (the Interac test C$100), and timing depended mostly on the casino's approval queue. Licence status is not part of our Payout Score, which weighs 60% tested payout speed, 20% withdrawal limits and 20% bonus terms; see how we test casino payouts for the method.

Checking a Casino Licence Before Your First Deposit

To check a casino licence, match the regulator, licence number, company and domain in the footer against the regulator's own register, not the badge. Ontario, Alberta, Kahnawà:ke, Curaçao and Malta publish searchable records; for Anjouan we could not verify one. A valid licence narrows the field, and payout tests show which top paying casino sites actually pay. Before a first deposit, confirm:

• The register entry matches the footer company and number.
• The seal certificate names the domain you are on.
• The licence status reads active, not expired or revoked.

Play only if you are of age: 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, 19 elsewhere; T&Cs apply. Our responsible gambling page lists help lines for every province.