The minimum wait is 24 hours. If you set a deposit limit at an online casino in Ontario or Alberta, a regulated site cannot raise or remove it until at least 24 hours after you ask, and nobody but you can make that request. Each regulated site must also let you set deposit, loss and time limits when you register and at any time afterwards. A limit applies on the site where you set it.
If you want a higher limit because gambling has become harder to control, you can talk to someone first. ConnexOntario offers free and confidential support in Ontario at 1-866-531-2600, and you can text CONNEX to 247247. In Alberta, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) lists the Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline at 1-866-332-2322 for free and confidential support.
What deposit, loss and time limits must an online casino in Ontario offer?
The first question is whether the site is registered at all, and how to check whether a site is regulated in your province covers it. For a site registered with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), Standard 2.23 of the Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming sets the baseline: “Players shall be provided with an easy and obvious way to set gaming limits (financial and time-based) upon registration and at any time after registration.” The wording appears on the AGCO's limit-setting features page.
The standard defines two kinds of limit. A deposit limit is one where “the amount a player deposits into their account is limited over a period of time chosen by the player.” A loss limit is one where “the amount lost (i.e., winnings subtracted from the amount spent) is restricted.”
The standard does not define a time limit. It speaks only of “time-based” limits. The AGCO's page for players names deposit, loss, time and wager limits, and adds that wager limits are “not available on all gaming sites.” So a site in Ontario must offer the first three, and wager limits are not offered on every site.
Sites must also offer a choice of periods. The standard says: “The period or duration of the financial or time-based limits offered must include, 24 hours, 7 days and one month. Where the player sets simultaneous periods (e.g., a deposit limit for a day and for a week), the lowest limit must apply.” A site must offer at least a day, a week and a month, and the lowest of your limits is the one that applies.
Can you raise or remove a limit right away?
No. Standard 2.24 sets the rule: “Where a gaming limit has been previously established by a player, a request by the player to relax or eliminate that limit shall only be implemented after a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours.” To relax a limit is to raise it, and to eliminate it is to remove it.
Three points follow from the standard and its requirements. First, 24 hours is a floor, because the words are “at least,” so a site may set a longer wait. Second, the change needs your request. The requirements say: “The Operator must not relax or eliminate a gaming limit without a request from the player and only after the expiry of the cooling-off period.” Third, the site's system enforces it, because “Gaming limits must be enforced by the gaming system.” A limit is not a reminder that you can dismiss.
The standard does not say what happens when the waiting period ends. Whether a higher limit takes effect automatically or waits for you to confirm it is left to the site, and the site's own terms are the place to look. A stricter limit is different: the cooling-off rule covers only requests to relax or eliminate one, and the standards leave the speed of a lower limit to the site.
Do the same rules apply in Alberta?
Largely, yes. Alberta opened its regulated online market on July 13, 2026, and AGLC sets the standards for it. Limits are covered in section 3.3, Responsible Gambling, of AGLC's Standards and Requirements for Internet Gaming (PDF), in the version dated March 17, 2026. Players must get controls that are “system enforced,” including “the ability to set loss and deposit limits at registration or at any time after registration.” The periods match Ontario's: 24 hours, seven days and one month, with the lowest limit applying when you set more than one.
The cooling-off rule matches too. AGLC's standards say: “Where an internet gaming limit has been previously established by a player, a request to relax or eliminate that limit must: only be made by the player; and only be implemented after a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours.”
Alberta adds two details. Time limits are defined as “the amount of time spent in areas of the site where games may be played,” set in “increments of one hour at a minimum.” Sites must send periodic reminders to review your limits, “quarterly for time and finance-based limits” and “monthly for reminders to review financial activity.” The Ontario standards cited here have no matching reminder rule. That is a difference in the rules and not a ranking of the provinces.
| Feature | Ontario (AGCO) | Alberta (AGLC) |
|---|---|---|
| When you can set limits | At registration and after | At registration and after |
| Deposit and loss limits | Required | Required |
| Time limit | Required, not defined | Required, hourly steps |
| Periods offered | 24 hours, 7 days, one month | 24 hours, 7 days, one month |
| Several limits at once | Lowest applies | Lowest applies |
| Raising or removing a limit | Your request, at least 24 hours | Your request, at least 24 hours |
| Reminders to review limits | None in the standards cited | Quarterly; activity monthly |
| Source checked | Standards 2.23 and 2.24, October 6, 2026 | Section 3.3, PDF dated 2026-03-17 |
AGLC amends its standards from time to time. Open the current PDF before relying on a detail, because this guide cites section 3.3 as a whole and not a numbered subsection.
Does a limit on one site apply on another?
The standards do not describe a limit that follows you from one site to another. The duty falls on each site, and both provinces allow one account per site. Ontario's Standard 3.09 reads: “Players may have only one player account per gaming site.” AGLC's standards use the same sentence. A limit you set with a site therefore applies on that site.
That reading comes from the wording. Neither the AGCO nor AGLC states it in so many words, and neither describes a central limit that covers every site. The AGCO's advice for players is: “Check with your gaming site for more information about how to use their limit-setting features.”
If you play on more than one regulated site, set limits on each one. A limit on one site does not cover another. Self-exclusion is the tool that reaches across sites, and a table below compares it with limits.
The standards apply to sites registered in Ontario with the AGCO and sites in Alberta's regulated market. This guide says nothing about how any other site handles limits.
What does the regulator check, and what is left to the site?
The AGCO and AGLC set rules for the structure of the tool. A registered site must offer limits at registration and afterwards, enforce them in the gaming system and keep a limit in place until you ask to relax it and the waiting period has passed. The AGCO's Standard 2.23 requirements add that limit functions “must be easy to find, reach and initiate or change at any time after the player has registered and opened an account.”
The standards cited here set no cap on how high a limit may be and no default amount. They do not say how long the cooling-off period lasts beyond 24 hours, and they do not describe what the tool looks like on screen. The amount and the period are yours to choose, and the way the tool works is the site's decision.
How do you set a limit?
The regulators do not prescribe steps, and every site arranges its account differently. These steps hold for any regulated site:
- Choose a deposit limit and a loss limit when you register, before you play.
- If you skipped it, look in your account settings, where the standards require limit tools to be easy to find.
- Pick the type and the period: a day, a week or a month. Remember that the lowest limit applies if you set more than one.
- Save the limit and write down the date and the amount.
- If you later want to raise it, make the request yourself and plan for a wait of at least 24 hours.
Menu names, button labels and screens differ from site to site, so this guide does not describe them. For the size of a limit, Canada has the Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines, which are outside this guide.
Limit, break in play or self-exclusion: which does what?
The table sets the three tools side by side.
| Tool | What it stops | How long | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limit | Deposits, losses or time above your cap | A period you choose | The site where you set it |
| Break in play | Further wagers | One day to three months | Offered by each site |
| Self-exclusion, Ontario | Access to regulated online sites | A term you choose | All regulated sites in Ontario (BetGuard) |
| Self-exclusion, Alberta | Access to connected sites | See the linked guide | Alberta (AGLC program) |
A break in play is shorter and ends on its own. In Ontario, Standard 2.13 says operators “shall provide the option to take a one day, one week, one month, two month, or three month break,” and during a break you cannot place further wagers. Alberta lists the same five lengths. During an Alberta short-term break, “players may still be able to access their account balance, profile and responsible gambling features.”
Self-exclusion has the widest reach. Ontario's centralized program is BetGuard, run by iGaming Ontario (iGO) since May 14, 2026, and one registration covers all regulated online gambling sites in Ontario. For the details, read how BetGuard, Ontario's self-exclusion program, works. In Alberta, AGLC runs a self-exclusion program that operators must connect to, and the guide to self-exclusion programs in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba covers what each province offers.
If a limit is not enough: where to get help
A limit does not replace support from a person. If gambling is affecting you or someone you care about, ConnexOntario offers free and confidential support in Ontario at 1-866-531-2600, and you can text CONNEX to 247247. In Alberta, AGLC says you can call the Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline at 1-866-332-2322 for free, confidential support.
Elsewhere in Canada, online gambling runs through provincial sites with tools of their own, and this guide did not review them. Helplines for the other provinces are listed under gambling helplines and tools in each province.
This guide gives general information and is not legal advice. The standards were checked on October 6, 2026, and both provinces can change them.
Questions people ask about gambling limits
How long is the cooling-off period before a limit goes up?
It is at least 24 hours in both Ontario (Standard 2.24) and Alberta (section 3.3 of AGLC's standards). That is a minimum, so a site may wait longer.
Can you lower a limit without waiting?
The standards set no waiting period for making a limit stricter. How quickly a lower limit takes effect is left to the site. The 24-hour rule covers only requests to relax or remove a limit.
What is the difference between a deposit limit and a loss limit?
A deposit limit caps the amount you add to your account over a period you choose. A loss limit caps the amount lost, which is what you spent minus your winnings. For example, with a $200 weekly deposit limit you can add no more than $200 that week.
Can a gambling site raise your limit without asking you?
Not under the Ontario standard, which says an operator “must not relax or eliminate a gaming limit without a request from the player.” AGLC's standards add that only the player can ask to relax a limit.
Does the government set a maximum deposit limit at an online casino in Ontario?
The standards cited here set no cap and no default amount. You choose the amount and the period, and the site must offer at least 24 hours, seven days and one month.
Sources
- AGCO, limit-setting features (Standards 2.23 and 2.24) (accessed October 6, 2026)
- AGCO, safer gambling (accessed October 6, 2026)
- AGCO, Registrar's Standards for Internet Gaming, print version, last updated May 14, 2026 (accessed October 6, 2026)
- AGLC, Standards and Requirements for Internet Gaming (PDF), section 3.3, file dated March 17, 2026 (accessed October 6, 2026)
- AGLC, self-exclusion program (accessed October 6, 2026)
- Alberta Health Services, help in tough times (accessed October 6, 2026)
- ConnexOntario, mental health, addictions and gambling support (accessed October 6, 2026)