Since the 1970’s, Canada’s federal government has allowed the individual provinces and territories to make their own rules regarding gambling within their jurisdictions.

As a result, several types of gambling operations, both land based and online, are legally available to Canadians in all parts of the country, as long as they are licensed and owned by provincial authorities.

This keeps the industry clean, transparent, properly audited and more proactive in dealing with problem gambling, while gaming profits can be applied to social spending in provincial budgets.

It’s no surprise that Canadian online bingo took off quickly. Land-based bingo halls have long been popular with Canadians. The game is social, with the draw process nevertheless delivering suspense and surprises. The different winning patterns allow for several prizes of varying sizes on one bingo draw, so any draw can produce several winners.

Players can afford to play bingo for affordable stakes regularly, and still stand a decent chance of a pleasant windfall every time. Canadian online bingo simply makes all these incentives instantly available, anyplace. The booming demand has led to a rapid growth in the number of Canadian online bingo sites available.

Advantage of Bingo Sites Licensed in Canada

Although keen bingo fans will want to take advantage of the many sites online that offer bingo 24/7, choosing the right site is more than a matter of making sure they accept Canadian players and Canadian dollars, which many sites around the world do. Of course that is important, as it makes life simpler for Canadian players, but making sure the site is legal and reputable is just as important.

It’s best to pick a Canadian online bingo site actually licensed and run by one of the provincial regulatory bodies in Canada. Not only will these sites automatically be legally accessible to Canadians and their currency, but playing at a site licensed by the appropriate Canadian authorities also means that players can be more confident of proper legal recourse in the event of any disputes. That said, there are plenty of sites with great reputations for fair dealings based in other parts of the world, so bingo enthusiasts who want to try all the options should take some basic precautions.

Reviews and Certifications Matter

Online gaming review sites can be very useful when assessing a Canadian online bingo site’s reputation for customer service and fair payouts. Many provide Top 10 lists, ranking different Canadian online bingo operations according to average payouts, customer service, bonuses offered and any other special features.

Security certifications and audit certificates are also items players should check before signing up to a Canadian online bingo site. The first is to ensure that the player’s transactions and personal information will be properly encrypted, and the second is a good guarantee that games have been independently tested for unbiased results.

Free Play and Incentive Bonuses

Once they have found Canadian online bingo sites they can trust, players face yet more options. There are sites that players can play for free, using credits only, that occasionally deliver impressive real-money prizes. Real-money games are great to play and have much more consistent prizes, though, and sites offer players frequent incentives like deposit-matching bonuses or free bingo cards to encourage play.

Players registered at a number of Canadian online bingo sites can therefore check the promotions pages every day, and score themselves a fair amount of free bingo play with a chance of real prizes, over and above the cards they pay for.