Canadian Gaming Guide

Online casino licences explained: Malta, Curaçao, Kahnawà:ke and Tobique

Updated 12 November 2026

Most casinos reviewed on this site are licensed outside Canada’s provincial systems, usually in Malta, Curaçao, Kahnawà:ke or Tobique. This page explains what each of those licences is and how to check one on the regulator’s own site. None of them is approval by a Canadian province.

Casino comparison Is it legal in Canada? How to choose a casino

Start with three details from the footer

Before you look at any register, write down three things from the footer or terms of the page you are actually using:

1. The operator’s company name, for example “N1 Interactive Limited” or “TechSolutions Group N.V.”
2. The licence number and the regulator, for example “MGA/B2C/394/2017”.
3. The exact domain in your address bar. Brands often run several domains, and a licence covers only the domains the regulator has approved.

Then check those details on the regulator’s own website, opened by typing its address yourself. A seal is only proof if it links to the regulator’s site and the details on that page match.

Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)

The Malta Gaming Authority publishes a licensee register with a URL checker. Its Player Hub also keeps a list of unauthorised URLs, meaning sites that falsely claim an MGA licence. Licensed sites usually show a “Dynamic Seal of Authorisation” that opens a page on authorisation.mga.org.mt, with the licensee, licence numbers, status and approved websites.

Complaints have a set route. The MGA says a licensee must look into a player’s complaint straight away and give the result within ten days, extendable once by another ten days if the player is told why. If that fails, the MGA’s Player Support Unit accepts complaints about its licensees. The seal for the licensee behind several of our reviews also names an approved alternative dispute resolution body, the Maltese Alternative Dispute Resolution Entity (MADRE).

Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA)

Curaçao’s National Ordinance on Games of Chance (LOK) came into force on 24 December 2024. The Curaçao Gaming Authority supervises licences under that law. It publishes a licence register with an online-gaming section, and warns that those overviews do not guarantee a licence is still valid.

The more useful check is the individual certificate. A valid Curaçao seal should open a certificate on cert.cga.cw. That page names the licensee, its Curaçao company number, the licence number, the grant date, the licence status, and a list of approved domains. If the domain you are using is not on that list, the certificate does not cover it.

Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (KGC)

The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission regulates gaming in and from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke, near Montréal. It says it adopted its Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming on 8 July 1999. Online operators it licenses must be hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, the data centre in Kahnawà:ke. Operators hold a “Client Provider Authorization”.

Two checks are available. The Commission’s Logo Certificate Program means that clicking the KGC logo on a licensed site should open a “Certificate of Good Standing” drawn from the Commission’s database. It also publishes a list of permit holders and their URLs. That page carried the note “Updated September 28, 2023” when we read it on 12 November 2026, so treat the logo certificate as the more current check. The Commission says it reviews player complaints under its regulations.

Kahnawà:ke is in Quebec, but a KGC permit is not a Quebec or Canadian provincial licence. Loto-Québec says lotoquebec.com is the only legal online gambling site in Quebec.

Tobique Gaming Commission (TGC)

The Tobique Gaming Commission describes itself as a regulator for online gaming that supports economic development for the Tobique First Nation. It publishes a list of licence holders with each company’s licence type (B2C or B2B) and expiry date.

Its validation page explains the seal shown in licensed sites’ footers: a green tick for valid, a yellow warning for potential issues under review, and a red cross for invalid. It says to make sure you are on validate.thetgc.ca when you check. The same page offers a complaint route against an operator, and a self-exclusion programme that it says covers every site it licenses.

What the registers show for brands we review

These are the register entries behind our reviews. We read every one of them on 12 November 2026.

One brand can appear on more than one regulator’s records. 20Bet’s own guides name the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, and 20bet.com also appears as an approved domain on a Curaçao certificate. 22Bet-branded pages name different operators and licences. In every case, the licence that applies to you is the one named in the footer and terms of the page you are served, so check that page first.

What no offshore licence does

• It is not provincial approval. In Ontario, look for a site in iGaming Ontario’s directory. In Alberta, use AGLC’s register. Elsewhere, provincial sites are listed in our province-by-province guide.
• It does not connect to provincial self-exclusion. Ontario’s BetGuard covers that province’s regulated sites, not an offshore account. See our self-exclusion guide.
• It does not guarantee a quick payout. Identity checks and bonus terms still come first. See how withdrawals work.

Warning signs

• A seal that is only an image and links nowhere, or links to a page that is not on the regulator’s own domain.
• A certificate or register entry that does not list the domain you are using.
• A company name in the footer that does not match the register entry.
• A licence marked expired, surrendered, invalid or under review.
• Terms that list one regulator while the footer shows another, without explaining why.

If the details do not line up, do not deposit. Minimum age is 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, and 19 elsewhere. If gambling stops being entertainment, use the free resources on our responsible gambling page.