Is Polymarket Legal in Canada? Kalshi, Polymarket and the Provinces

No prediction market is recognised as an exchange or registered as a dealer in Canada. The Canadian Securities Administrators and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization said so on 2 April 2026, and Vultax found nothing since that changes it.

The venues' own documents reflect that. Kalshi's member agreement lists Canada among the places where trading its event contracts is restricted. Polymarket's developer documentation lets people in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec only close positions on polymarket.com; its help page goes further and calls those four provinces blocked. Polymarket US is built for US residents.

Canadian law then splits by subject. Since 27 August 2026 securities regulators treat sports and entertainment contracts as gambling, leaving them to the provinces' gaming regulators, while economic, environmental and financial contracts can reach Canadians only through a regulated Canadian dealer. Elsewhere, a place a venue does not list is not a place where it is permitted.

Download table figures:CSVJSON with sources

Securities are regulated by each province and territory, and legal gambling is run or licensed by them under the federal Criminal Code, so the position can differ across the country. The table shows polymarket.com's developer documentation and the provincial actions Vultax found.

Download table figures:CSVJSON with sources

On 17 April 2025 the Capital Markets Tribunal approved a settlement between the Ontario Securities Commission and Blockratize Inc. and Adventure One QSS Inc., the companies behind polymarket.com. In it the companies admitted that between June 2020 and May 2023 they breached Ontario securities law by offering Ontario residents binary options, the yes-or-no event contracts on Polymarket, contrary to the ban in Multilateral Instrument 91-102. Polymarket's terms have said since 23 December 2024 that Ontario residents may not trade.

The order bars the two companies from trading in securities or derivatives for two years from the order, except to let Ontario residents close existing positions, and imposes a C$200,000 administrative penalty and C$25,000 in costs on top of a US$22,966.75 voluntary payment. Separately, the companies gave an undertaking to keep those terms and to maintain restrictions preventing Ontario residents' access; its duration is set by the undertaking, not by the two-year order. Vultax found no later variation of the order.

• No recognition - On 2 April 2026 the CSA and CIRO said no prediction market had been recognised as an exchange or registered or exempted as a dealer, and pointed out that short-term binary options are banned for individuals in some provinces.
• Sports and entertainment are gambling - Joint Staff Notice 91-307 of 27 August 2026 says contracts on sports and entertainment outcomes should not be regulated as securities or derivatives, which leaves them to provincial gaming law.
• A dealer route for some contracts - The same notice lets CIRO-regulated dealers offer a limited set of economic, environmental and financial contracts traded and cleared on certain US-regulated exchanges. That is access through a Canadian dealer, not recognition of the US exchange.
• Everything else is open - The BC Securities Commission said assessment of other types of event contracts, political ones included, is ongoing.
• Binary options - Multilateral Instrument 91-102 has banned short-term binary options for individuals since December 2017 in every province and territory except British Columbia, which relies on its own law; BC's notice expressly covers outcomes such as an election.
• British Columbia's gambling regulator - On 28 August 2026 the Independent Gambling Control Office said sports and entertainment event contracts are gambling in BC, that PlayNow.com is the only regulated online gambling site, and that other sites taking BC players operate illegally.

• Kalshi - Its own agreement restricts trading its event contracts from Canada. A regulated Canadian dealer may offer some of its economic and financial contracts; sports contracts are outside that route.
• polymarket.com - Close-only or blocked in the four largest provinces by its own documents, and Ontario has a tribunal order against its operators. In the other provinces and territories it is not listed, which says nothing about provincial law.
• Polymarket US - It is built for US residents and does not describe a Canadian service.
• VPNs - Polymarket's help page says using a VPN to get around location limits breaks its terms.

The CSA and CIRO release, Notice 91-307, the BCSC release, MI 91-102, BC Notice 2017/02, the IGCO update, the Ontario order and settlement, and the venue documents were read on 30 October 2026. The Autorité des marchés financiers' and CIRO's websites could not be read for this check, so a Quebec or CIRO statement may be missing. Vultax did not test access from any province.

This page describes legal documents; it is not legal advice. Challenge a line at [email protected].