Quebec Moves Towards Online Gambling

The Canadian province of Quebec has taken another step towards providing legalized online poker to provincial residents, having announced the appointment of a five person committee to oversee the venture by Loto Quebec. Raymond Bachand, the Finance Minister for Quebec, says that the team will have complete freedom to issue reports and make their opinions known on the subjects of legalizing online poker and casinos.

The committee, which will be headed by psychologist Louise Nadeau, will spend three years examining the operations of the new poker sites. They will report on their findings in regards to the social impacts of online gambling, and suggest potential solutions to minimize or prevent issues like problem gambling.

Loto Quebec plans to begin providing online gaming services sometime after October 1^st of this year. Contracts have recently be signed with experienced operators to help manage the sites; the UK company Openbet will provide software that will provide table games and customer account management for the venture, while poker room services were contracted out to GTechG2, which uses the International Poker Network to host poker games. Sports betting is also expected to be among the offerings.

Loto Quebe CEO Alain Cousineau stressed that safety and security would be the first priority when providing online gaming to citizens.

“Now that the government has given the green light,” said Cousineau, “various measures will be put in motion to ensure that fans of online gaming can access a secure, legal and aboveboard site this fall.”

Quebec is not the only Canadian province with legalized online gambling. British Columbia has already offered online gambling and has recently expanded their gaming options. Meanwhile, other provinces such as Manitoba have made strides in recent months towards opening and regulating online gambling markets.