History
PlayNow first launched in 2004, initially allowing users to purchase BCLC lottery products online.
In July 2010, PlayNow added online blackjack, craps, and roulette, becoming the first legal online casino in Canada. The service cost $7.3 million and was developed with OpenBet.
Shortly after launch, PlayNow was taken offline. The operators initially attributed this to server load, then to a security flaw, a "defect in the error handling logic", that let users access other accounts; the BCLC said 134 accounts were affected. Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham required the site to stay offline pending an independent review. The service resumed in August 2010.
In February 2011, PlayNow added online poker; via a platform operated by gaming vendor GTech, games would be linked with Loto-Québec's Espacejeux.
In January 2013, PlayNow expanded to Manitoba via a partnership with the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation.
In June 2021, the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-218, repealing the Criminal Code prohibition on single-event sports betting and allowing provinces to regulate it directly. PlayNow subsequently began offering single-event sports betting. Within the first two months, British Columbians placed more than $25 million in single-event bets through the platform.
In November 2022, PlayNow launched in Saskatchewan; it is operated in partnership between the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) and Sask Gaming, as part of an agreement reached with the provincial government in 2021.
