The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has served Relax Gaming Limited and Arrise Solutions Limited with Orders of Monetary Penalties of $40,000 each. The penalties follow an AGCO investigation that found games created by these companies were available on unregulated gambling websites accessible to Ontario players. Operators of gaming websites that are accessible within Ontario must be registered with the AGCO.

Ontario’s regulated iGaming market is built on clear, enforceable standards that require operators to include strong consumer protections, such as game integrity and responsible gaming safeguards. Unregulated gaming sites do not guarantee player protections or information security and increase the potential risk of harm to players and criminal activity, such as money-laundering and match-fixing. That is why the AGCO actively works to combat unlawful gaming in Ontario.

Relax Gaming and Arrise Solutions are both registered by the AGCO to create and supply slot and casino-style games for play on Ontario’s regulated gaming sites. The AGCO prohibits companies operating in the regulated iGaming market from offering their products to unregulated gaming websites available to Ontario players. Supplying games to such sites helps to sustain unregulated gaming operations.

The AGCO aims to disrupt unregulated gaming and its supply chains to safeguard Ontarians and maintain gaming integrity in the province. The agency monitors the market for regulated entities supplying the unregulated sector.

Following notification from AGCO investigators, both companies cooperated fully with the investigation and took prompt action to restrict access to their games by Ontario players on unregulated sites.

“Ontario’s regulated iGaming market is built on clear rules designed to protect players and hold companies accountable. Unregulated gaming sites operate outside that framework, meaning players have no assurance of fair games, timely withdrawals, or access to meaningful dispute resolution. When regulated games appear on unregulated sites, it risks enabling a market that exposes players to real harm,” said Dr. Karin Schnarr, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of AGCO.

TitanPlay, a regulated iGaming operator in Ontario’s licensed market, announced its commitment to treating responsible gambling not as a compliance checkbox, but as a foundational principle embedded across all aspects of product design, marketing, and operations.

While Ontario’s regulatory framework — established by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO) — sets clear minimum standards for licensed operators, TitanPlay says it views those standards as a starting point for its broader responsible gambling framework.

“For us, responsible gambling is not an afterthought, but the foundation on which TitanPlay is built,” said the Chief Compliance Officer of TitanPlay.

Designing for Player Well-Being from Day One

TitanPlay evaluates every product feature through a player-protection lens at the development stage. The platform offers clear, accessible limit-setting tools for deposits, losses, and time — available at registration and adjustable within prescribed cooling-off periods. Players also benefit from prominent real-time displays of account activity, friction-based interventions such as time reminders and proactive check-ins when play patterns shift, and seamless access to self-exclusion options.

Data-Driven Safeguards

Rather than using behavioral analytics to maximize short-term spending, TitanPlay deploys data to identify potential indicators of risk. When patterns suggest a player may be experiencing harm, trained Responsible Gambling specialists engage proactively in a personalized and supportive way, connecting players with available tools and independent resources such as ConnexOntario. All customer-facing teams undergo ongoing training aligned with AGCO standards.

Marketing with Integrity

TitanPlay applies rigorous internal review processes to all advertising and promotional campaigns, going beyond Ontario’s standards prohibiting targeting of minors, misleading claims, and public advertising of inducements or bonuses. The company prioritizes transparency, age-gating, and responsible messaging to ensure entertainment is never misrepresented as a financial solution.

A Shared Responsibility Across the Organization

Responsible gambling at TitanPlay is owned across product, marketing, compliance, and leadership — influencing roadmap decisions, user interface design, customer communications, and executive strategy.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has updated several lottery policies to remove the cap on seller commission for Paper Raffles and Media Bingo, along with removing the prohibition on Catch the Ace paper lotteries, to align with other charitable lottery products.

Licensed charities may now negotiate commissions directly with sellers and determine commissions, provided they are reasonable and tied to the cost of service provided by the seller.

These updates further the AGCO’s commitment to adopt an outcomes-based regulatory approach and reduce burden for the charitable gaming sector. Local charitable organizations will have greater flexibility to make decisions that best serve their fundraising objectives.

Important Reminders

• Charities must still receive approval for other expenses incurred under their licence and retain receipts for seller commission paid.

• Licensing authorities will not require documentation to be submitted as part of the application process, however, charities are still subject to audit to determine compliance.

• Charities are reminded of their legal requirement to meet their obligations under the Criminal Code and with respect to conducting and managing a charitable gaming scheme.

• As with all licensed charitable lottery events, charities must take the necessary steps to ensure that they are conducting and managing the lottery event within Ontario.

For charitable gaming-related inquiries, email an AGCO Eligibility Officer at [email protected] or call AGCO Customer Service at 1-800-522-2876, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.