Responsible Gambling in Ontario: BetGuard, Limits and Help

Updated: 31 October 2026

Content Manager

Content written and reviewed by:Emily Carter

If gambling has stopped being fun, BetGuard lets you stop it everywhere in Ontario with one registration. The free tool, run by iGaming Ontario, blocks you from every regulated online sportsbook and casino in the province at once – including OLG’s – for six months to five years.

It takes a few minutes, and nobody can sign you up but you. This page explains how BetGuard works, what happens to your account and your money when you join, and the smaller tools every Ontario sportsbook must give you before you get anywhere near that point. If you need to talk to someone now, ConnexOntario is free, confidential and open 24/7 on 1-866-531-2600, or text CONNEX to 247247.

• Everything on BetGuard below comes from its own site, FAQ and Terms and Conditions (effective 14 May 2026), read on 7 October 2026.
• The operator tools come from the terms of the sportsbooks we review, with section numbers where they exist.
• Nothing here is medical advice. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.

Help Is Available Right Now

You do not need to self-exclude, or to have decided anything, to call one of these numbers. All are free.

ConnexOntario is the one to remember. One call gets you to the right service, whether that is counselling, a treatment program or help for a family member.

What BetGuard Is

BetGuard is Ontario’s centralized self-exclusion tool. It is provided by iGaming Ontario, an agency of the Government of Ontario, and it launched in May 2026. Before it existed, excluding yourself meant doing it separately at every sportsbook you used. BetGuard replaces that with a single registry.

It works by matching. When you register, BetGuard records your identity in a central registry. Every regulated online sportsbook and casino in Ontario, and OLG, checks that registry in real time. If you are on it, the operator must stop you logging in and stop you opening a new account, for as long as your term lasts.

Its own FAQ lists the brands covered, and it is every name you will find on the A-Z list of Ontario sportsbooks – from 888, bet365 and BetMGM to ToonieBet, Swiper and Betinia – plus OLG and PROLINE+, the casino brands, and any operator that launches in Ontario in future. Registered operators must also stop sending you marketing.

Who Can Use It

BetGuard is free. To register, you must be 19 or older and have:

• a valid government photo ID – a driver’s licence, passport or passport card, permanent resident card, Certificate of Indian Status, or provincial or state photo card;
• a permanent Canadian or US address;
• a Canadian or US mobile number and an email address;
• a device with a camera, for a photo of your ID and a scan of your face.

Health cards are not accepted. BetGuard says your ID is used only to verify your registration and is not stored or shared. You do not need to hold, or ever have held, an account with any sportsbook.

How to Sign Up for BetGuard, Step by Step

BetGuard says registration takes under five minutes. These are the steps, in order:

1. Log out of every betting and casino account first. Its terms treat staying logged in during registration as a breach that can affect your exclusion.
2. Create your account at betguard.ca, using the same name, address and details as your existing gambling accounts, so operators can match you.
3. Confirm your phone number with the code BetGuard texts you.
4. Verify your identity: photograph your ID and complete a face scan.
5. Choose how long to opt out: 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or a custom term between 6 months and 5 years.

If any step is difficult, the Contact Centre can walk you through it on 1-833-776-7171, after verifying who you are. It works in English and French. What it will not do is register anyone else: you cannot sign up a partner, a parent or a friend, and the face scan is there to make sure of it.

One warning from BetGuard itself: impostor sites exist. The only official address is betguard.ca, linked from igamingontario.ca. Never give your ID to a site you reached from a search ad or a message.

What Happens to Your Account and Your Money

This is the question most people ask before they register, and BetGuard’s answer is specific.

Two practical points. Because the refund route depends on the operator, check each account for a remaining balance and ask for it if it has not arrived. And trying to get round your exclusion – opening an account in someone else’s name, or depositing through a back door – breaches BetGuard’s terms, and iGaming Ontario accepts no liability for winnings or refunds lost that way.

How Long It Lasts, and How It Ends

This is where BetGuard is stricter than most people expect, and deliberately so.

In plain terms: nothing ends by accident. A six-month term does not quietly lapse on a Saturday night when you are tempted. Coming back is a decision you have to make on purpose, when you are sober about it.

BetGuard or a Sportsbook’s Own Self-Exclusion?

Every registered sportsbook also runs its own self-exclusion. The two are separate, and joining one does not enrol you in the other.

If gambling is a problem across more than one site, BetGuard is the stronger tool. If you want a break from one book only – say, a casino section you know you overuse – the operator tools below may be enough. Many people use both.

The Tools Every Ontario Sportsbook Must Give You

Self-exclusion is the last line. Before it, every registered operator must offer limits and breaks, and iGaming Ontario requires each one to hold responsible gambling accreditation through the Responsible Gambling Council’s RG Check program. This is what three of the books we review actually offer, from their own terms.

The pattern is the same everywhere, and it is the useful thing to know: tightening a limit is instant, loosening one waits at least 24 hours. That delay is the point. A limit you set on a calm Tuesday holds through the Friday night you wish it would not.

Two details catch people out. Some books reset daily limits at midnight GMT rather than Toronto time – 8 p.m. in Ontario during daylight time, as Betway’s policy states. And a break or exclusion at one brand often covers its sister brands too, but not other companies: only BetGuard covers the whole market.

Set Limits Before You Need Them

The most effective moment to set a deposit limit is when you open the account, before your first deposit, when there is nothing to chase. DAZN Bet makes it compulsory; most books leave it to you. Whatever you pick, set a number you would be comfortable losing in full, and treat it as the cost of the entertainment rather than a budget to win back.

Signs That Gambling Is Becoming a Problem

There is no single test, but these are the signs the Responsible Gambling Council and operators’ own policies return to most often:

• betting more than you planned, or more than you can afford to lose;
• chasing losses – betting again to win back what you lost;
• needing bigger bets to feel the same excitement;
• borrowing money, or selling things, to gamble;
• hiding your betting from people close to you;
• feeling anxious, irritable or guilty about gambling, or when you try to stop.

If two or three of those sound familiar, it is worth a conversation with ConnexOntario, even if you are not sure it is a problem. The Responsible Gambling Council also offers a short self-assessment quiz at responsiblegambling.org.

If You Are Worried About Someone Else

You cannot register another person for BetGuard, and an operator will not discuss someone else’s account with you. What you can do is talk to them, and get support for yourself: ConnexOntario and CAMH both help family members, not only the person who gambles. If money is the immediate problem, Credit Canada offers free counselling.

More Ways to Block Gambling

BetGuard covers regulated online gambling in Ontario. It does not block unregulated offshore sites, which are not connected to the registry – one more reason to bet only with sportsbooks registered in Ontario. Prediction sites run from abroad are in the same position: neither Polymarket nor Kalshi is registered here, and our guide to Polymarket and Kalshi in Ontario explains which prediction markets are legal in the province. For extra protection, BetGuard itself points to blocking software such as BetBlocker and Gamban, which stop gambling websites and apps loading on your devices. Your bank may also offer a gambling block on your card.

Responsible Gambling FAQs

• What is BetGuard?

  BetGuard is Ontario’s centralized self-exclusion tool, provided by iGaming Ontario. One registration blocks you from every regulated online sportsbook and casino in the province, including OLG, for a term you choose between six months and five years. It is free.

• Can I cancel BetGuard early?

  No. During your term you cannot cancel, pause or shorten it, although you can extend it. When the term ends you stay excluded until you actively complete Reinstatement; if you do nothing, Reinstatement happens automatically seven years after the term ended.

• What happens to my money when I join BetGuard?

  Money in your accounts is returned to you, automatically or on request depending on each operator. Outstanding bets are cancelled and refunded to your player wallet within 24 hours, except bets on events that take place inside that 24-hour window.

• How do deposit limits work at Ontario sportsbooks?

  Every registered Ontario sportsbook must offer deposit, loss and time limits and short breaks. Lowering a limit takes effect immediately; raising one takes effect only after at least 24 hours, so a limit set on a calm day holds when you are tempted.

• Where can I get help with problem gambling in Ontario?

  ConnexOntario is free, confidential and open 24/7: call 1-866-531-2600 or text CONNEX to 247247. If you are in crisis, call or text 988. The CAMH Problem Gambling Service offers free specialized treatment on 416-535-8501, option 2.

How This Site Handles Responsible Gambling

We review sportsbooks, so we owe you a straight account of how we treat this. We do not publish bonuses, welcome offers or promo codes, which Ontario’s rules prohibit advertising to the public. Every review records the limit and exclusion tools the operator offers and how clearly it documents them, and we mark operators down for getting the basics wrong – several books have printed the wrong helpline number, and we said so. More on our approach is in how we rank Ontario sportsbooks.

Betting should be entertainment with a cost, not a way to make money. If it has stopped feeling like that, the tools on this page exist for exactly that moment.

19+. Ontario only. Gambling can be addictive. Free, confidential help is available 24/7 from ConnexOntario: call 1-866-531-2600, text CONNEX to 247247, or visit connexontario.ca.