Nova Scotians can enjoy thousands of casino games, place sports wagers and compete in poker tournaments online. The best gambling sites also provide large welcome bonuses, reliable software and fast payments.
This guide highlights the top six sites for online gambling in the province. You’ll discover the best Nova Scotia online casino, the top Nova Scotia sports betting site, and the best online poker room. We will also discuss the current legal status of Nova Scotia online gambling.
Online gambling is legal in Nova Scotia. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s official site offers around 300 casino games, a modest range of sports betting markets and online lottery tickets.
You can also use grey market gambling sites like Sports Interaction and Bodog. That will allow you to access a much larger variety of online casino games. You’ll also enjoy lots more sports betting options, plus online poker tournaments and cash games.
Type of Gambling | Availability | Reason |
---|---|---|
Online Casinos | Available | You can play various online casino games via the Atlantic Lottery Corporation website, which went live in Nova Scotia in 2022. However, grey market sites offer a larger range of games. |
Online Poker | Offshore only | There are no regulated online poker rooms in the province, but players are free to use grey market sites like Bodog. |
Online Sports Betting | Available | Online sports betting is available through the ALC’s Pro•Line site, but grey market sites offer more options and better odds. |
Land-Based Casinos | Available | There are land-based casinos and entertainment centres in the province, such as Casino Nova Scotia and the Sipekne’katik Entertainment Centre. |
Land-Based Poker | Available | Casino Nova Scotia in Halifax runs No Limit Hold’em games from Wednesday to Sunday each week. |
Land-Based Sportsbooks | Available | You can buy Pro•Line tickets at certain retail outlets in Nova Scotia. |
The legal gambling age is 19 in Nova Scotia. Anyone aged 19 or older can buy lottery tickets, place sports bets, or play casino games and poker at land-based casinos. You can also play online casino games.
We have reviewed all the leading gambling sites that welcome Nova Scotians. After weighing up their relative strengths and weaknesses, we decided that these are the top six sites for Nova Scotia online casino players, sports bettors and poker players.
Sports Interaction is an elite gambling site that has welcomed Nova Scotians since 1997. The Mohawk community in Quebec created the site, which was quickly dubbed “Canada’s most trusted sportsbook.” A European company called Entain, which also runs sites like PartyCasino and BetMGM, purchased Sports Interaction in 2022. Since then, this gambling site has improved in every department.
Nova Scotians will now find competitive odds on more than 25 sports at Sports Interaction, and there are loads of props too. The site also hosts more than 2,000 online casino games, including lots of exclusive slots.
Visit Sports InteractionSports Interaction also offers a smooth user interface, quick payouts, reliable customer service, and large bonuses for new and existing players. That makes it the best Nova Scotia online gambling site overall.
Betway is the best site for anyone interested in Nova Scotia sports betting. You can bet on a long list of sports, from football, hockey, and basketball to badminton, beach volleyball, and Gaelic hurling. The site covers lots of winter sports too, plus esports, politics, entertainment, and novelty markets.
This online sportsbook is vastly superior to the Pro•Line options at the ALC site. Betway covers a far wider range of sports. It also offers a much larger choice of betting options, and the odds are more attractive too
Betway ReviewYou’ll also benefit from more features, such as stats and streaming, plus more bonuses. Aside from sports betting in Nova Scotia, the site also offers a strong online casino, with lots of video slots and table games.
Bodog is the best site for poker players in Nova Scotia. This popular gambling site has been available in the province for decades, and it has a trusted reputation. Bodog offers online sports betting and casino games, but the poker room is the site’s best feature. It’s part of the PaiWangLuo network, which benefits from higher traffic than any other poker network in North America.
That allows Bodog Poker to offer an unparalleled range of poker games, tournaments, SNGs and jackpot SNGs. There’s action to suit all players, from freerolls and low-stakes games to major tournaments with huge prize pools.
Visit BodogBodog is a feature-rich poker site too, and it offers fast payouts and excellent customer service.
This is our top choice for Nova Scotia online casino players who enjoy slots. TonyBet is home to more than 5,000 online slots, which have been sourced from around 100 studios. You’ll find everything from classic 3-reel slots to famous progressive jackpot slots. The site hosts loads of Megaways slots, bonus buy slots, Hold & Win slots, 3D slots, and more, covering all formats, themes, and styles.
The site is fast and accessible, despite the size of the portfolio. The games are arranged in various categories, so it’s easy to locate your favourite types of slots.
Visit TonyBetTonyBet offers loads of virtual table games, live casino games, and casual games too. There’s also an excellent online sportsbook, so this is one of the best sites for Nova Scotia online gambling enthusiasts.
North Casino is a great option for anyone in Nova Scotia who enjoys playing progressive jackpot slots. There’s a useful section on the homepage, which highlights these games and displays the current jackpots at any given time. These games give you the chance to win seven-figure or even eight-figure jackpots from just one spin of the reels.
Some of the best games include the Mega Moolah and WowPot! series, which were created by Microgaming. These games, which are now supplied by Games Global, have set world records by delivering the largest jackpot payouts of all time.
Visit North CasinoYou’ll find jackpot games from other studios too, plus lots of standard video slots and table games.
Hell Spin offers a wealth of great bonuses. Nova Scotians can claim a 100% welcome bonus worth up to $3,000. There are also large second, third, and fourth deposit bonuses available. Each week, you can claim a 50% reload bonus of up to $600, plus 100 free spins. Free spins are offered on every deposit you mak,e too.
Additional promos include the Secret Bonus, an Everyday Bonus and the Fortune Wheel Bonus. Hell Spin also runs a strong VIP program, and the site hosts regular slots tournaments too.
Visit Hell SpinThis is another trusted online casino, which hosts a large selection of games from plenty of respected software providers.
How We Evaluate Nova Scotia Online CasinosWe conduct rigorous reviews of all the leading online casinos that accept players in Nova Scotia. Our experts assess the bonuses, the software, the payout speeds, the customer service and the general reputation of each site. These are the four main areas we consider.
Naturally, each gambling site must be available in Nova Scotia. That means players aged 19 or older can access the site from anywhere in the province via their phones, tablets or computers, with no need for a VPN. We ensure each site offers CAD accounts too.
We then assess the security measures at each site. Our experts are looking for sites that offer strong player protection tools, such as multiple firewalls and advanced encryption.
Our reviewers also make sure these sites offer banking options that suit Canadian players, such as Interac, iDebit, Instadebit, MuchBetter, Payz, Visa and MasterCard. We also consider the deposit and withdrawal limits, along with the withdrawal times.
Finally, we break down the game selection at each site offering online gambling in Nova Scotia. We’re looking for sites that host a wide, diverse variety of games from lots of reputable software providers. It’s also important to confirm that the games have been independently certified for delivering fair, random, reliable results.
Here’s a look at how some of our popular Nova Scotia gambling sites stack up against one another:
Casino | Welcome Bonus | Rollover | Min Deposit | Number of Games | Read Review |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sports Interaction | 100% up to $3,000 for casino, 125% up to $250 for sportsbook | 30x for casino, 6x for sportsbook | $10 | 2,000+ | Sports Interaction Review |
Betway | 100% up to $300, plus 50 free spins | 10x for sportsbook | $20 | 800+ | Betway Review |
Bodog | 100% up to $600 plus 50 free spins for casino, 100% up to $400 for sportsbook, 100% up to $1,000 for poker | 40x for casino, 5x for sportsbook, $1 released for every 150 Reward Points in poker room | $10 | 1,300+ | Bodog Review |
TonyBet | 100% up to $1,000 plus 100 free spins for casino, 100% up to $350 for sportsbook | 40x for casino bonus, 50x for free spins, 5x for sportsbook | $20 | 5,300+ | TonyBet Review |
North Casino | 100% up to $1,000 | 60x | $10 | 2,000+ | North Casino Review |
Hell Spin | 100% up to $3,000 | 40x | $20 | 4,000+ | Hell Spin Review |
Yes, online gambling is legal in Nova Scotia. However, the only regulated gambling site right now is ALC.ca. The Atlantic Lottery Corporation’s site was initially created to allow Nova Scotians to buy online lottery tickets.
In 2022, the site added online casino games, including slots, virtual table games, video poker and keno. ALC.ca also sells Pro•Line tickets online. It initially focused solely on parlays, but the province legalized single game sports betting in 2022.
However, ALC.ca is limited in its scope. The site doesn’t cover many sports, and it offers a limited range of betting markets. It hosts approximately 350 casino games, including a decent range of slots, but there are no live dealer games. The site doesn’t host poker games or tournaments either.
Most Nova Scotians prefer to use the grey market betting sites they have been playing at for many years. These sites are hosted outside of the province, but they are licensed and regulated in their home jurisdictions, and there are no laws preventing you from using them.
Several years ago, the provincial government in Quebec tried to block residents from accessing overseas gambling sites. The superior court ruled the move to be unconstitutional. Since then Quebecers have been free to use grey market gambling sites, and the case provided a nationwide precedent, as no other provincial governments have tried to enact a similar ban in the ensuing years.
Land-Based Gambling Options in Nova ScotiaThere are several land-based gambling options in Nova Scotia. Some are modest entertainment centres that host a modest collection of video lottery terminals. However, there are also a couple of reasonably large casinos in the province.
Casino | Address | Phone Number | Gambling Options | Operated By |
---|---|---|---|---|
Casino Nova Scotia Halifax | 1983 Upper Water Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3Y5 | (902) 425-7777 | Slot machines, live table games electronic table, live poker room | Great Canadian Entertainment |
Casino Nova Scotia Sydney | 525 George Street, Sydney, Nova Scotia B1P 1K5 | (902) 563-7777 | Slot machines, electronic table games | Great Canadian Entertainment |
The Alcohol and Gaming Authority (AGA) regulates gambling in Nova Scotia. This provincial government agency was previously known as the Nova Scotia Gaming Control Commission. The AGA is the licensing authority for gambling operators in Nova Scotia, and it regulates all licensed gambling activities.
Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSCG) oversees and manages the operators that carry out the day-to-day business: the Atlantic Lottery and Casino Nova Scotia. The NSGC ensures that both operators comply with the Criminal Code of Canada and the Gaming Control Act.
New Brunswick has very similar gambling laws to Nova Scotia. There are a few casinos in the province, including Casino New Brunswick and Grey Rock Casino. Bettors in New Brunswick can also use the ALC.ca site, which is run by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. The site covers Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.
Anyone aged 19 or older can play at ALC.ca in New Brunswick. They can access online casino games, keno, slots, virtual table games and video poker on the site. It also sells online lottery tickets and Pro•Line sports betting tickets.
However, grey market sites like TonyBet, Betway and Sports Interaction are popular in New Brunswick too. They offer more games, a wider range of sports betting options, sharper odds, larger bonuses and better software than ALC.ca.
The Future of Online Casinos in Nova ScotiaWe are unlikely to see any significant changes to the Nova Scotia online casino market in the immediate future. The last major shift occurred in 2022, when the provincial government rolled out the ALC.ca site in Nova Scotia.
That site continues to compete with grey market online casinos, and it will be interesting to see how the battle for market share plays out over the next few years.
In 2022, Ontario became the first province to initiate a regulated market for privately owned online casinos, sportsbooks and poker sites. Alberta has now passed a similar law. While there is a chance that Nova Scotia could be the third province to roll out a regulated market, there are no plans to do so right now. Lawmakers are not considering any bills of that nature, but we will let readers know if any are introduced.
Please Gamble Responsibly in Nova ScotiaIt is important to gamble responsibly in Nova Scotia. Responsible gamblers stick to a tight budget, which doesn’t include money they need for rent, bills or other essentials. They treat online gambling as a form of entertainment, which is enjoyed in moderation, as they know that success is never guaranteed.
If you need support, there are several responsible gambling resources available to Nova Scotians:
Nova Scotia online gambling is legal. You will find a modest range of casino games and a few sports betting options at ALC.ca, which is run by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation. However, grey market gambling sites offer a much larger range of games, plus lots more sports betting options and online poker rooms.
We have identified the top six sites for Nova Scotia online casino players, sports bettors and poker players. Sports Interaction is our personal favorite because it’s a solid all-round site, with casino and sports betting options as well as generous bonuses and exceptional customer service.
Taylor Smith is a skilled iGaming writer and content editor. He started writing for GamblingNerd.com in 2017 and became a content specialist in 2022. He majored in radio and film in college. After a transition to writing about online gambling, he now has over ten years of experience in the field. Yes, he’s heard your Taylor Swift jokes.