When 2025 rolls around, it will do so with a new individual atop iGaming Ontario.
The agency in charge of managing Ontario online casino gaming and sports betting in Canada’s largest province announced Thursday that Executive Director Martha Otton will retire at the end of 2024. Otton has led iGaming Ontario since its inception more than three years ago.
In April 2022, Ontario became the first Canadian province to have a robust regulated online gaming market. The move away from the gray market came as Canada also legalized single-game sports betting. Over the past two years, dozens of operators have launched online casino, Ontario sports betting and poker sites. That gives the province the most robust online market of any regulated jurisdiction in Canada or the United States.
There were 50 operators maintaining 80 active sites, according to iGaming Ontario’s 2024-25 first-quarter report released last month. Across all markets, bettors wagered $18.4 billion and approved operators generated $726 million in revenue from April to June of this year, most of it via casino apps Ontario.
A Deloitte study found that the regulated iGaming market helped create nearly 15,000 jobs and generated $1.24 billion in taxes for the Canadian, Ontario and local governments during the 2023-24 fiscal year. Almost $800 million of the revenues went to the province, an increase of more than 68% from the initial year of regulated iGaming.
“She has left an impressive legacy across her career, and in particular to Ontario’s gaming sector,” iGO Board Chair Heidi Reinhart said in a statement regarding Otton. “Ontario’s competitive iGaming market is a testament to her visionary leadership and commitment to working with our operators and broader stakeholders.”
About Martha Otton
Otton has worked in gaming for more than 12 years, starting with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, where she served as the agency’s chief strategy officer from January 2012 to February 2021. In that role, she led the development of the commission’s strategic plan and helped it take over regulating both horse racing and cannabis.
She transitioned into her role at iGaming Ontario, which is an AGCO subsidiary, in February 2021. In overseeing online gaming and Ontario sportsbook apps, the agency also has been responsible for developing guidelines to promote responsible gaming and protect the public.
As Otton gets ready to depart, other Canadian provinces seek to follow in Ontario’s footsteps. The next province most likely to follow is Alberta, where government leaders have pointed to Ontario’s structure as a template for their plans.
“On behalf of the CGA, its board and members, we thank Martha Otton for her hard and tenacious work in launching Canada’s first regulated gaming jurisdiction and for helping to grow it into one of the world’s most successful markets,” the Canadian Gaming Association said in a statement on its LinkedIn page. “Her retirement is well earned, and she has our appreciation for her leadership and vision in shaping the future of iGaming.”
