British Columbia says unregulated prediction markets are illegal

British Columbia has said that many products offered by prediction market platforms are unregulated gambling under provincial law, not a regulatory grey zone. For high-risk operators and PSPs, the point is simple: if the contract is tied to sports or entertainment outcomes, the province says it falls inside its gambling framework.

1. The clarification came from British Columbia’s Independent Gambling Control Office, which said products based on sports or entertainment outcomes are considered gambling and are therefore illegal in the province if they are not properly authorised.
2. The statement applies to prediction market platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi. In British Columbia, online gambling is only permitted through PlayNow, the regulated platform operated by the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
3. The move follows a joint notice from the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). They said event contracts based on sports and entertainment outcomes should not be regulated under securities and derivatives legislation.
4. British Columbia’s Gambling Control Office then clarified the practical consequence: platforms offering sports- and entertainment-based prediction contracts without authorisation could face enforcement under the province’s existing regulatory framework.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks, the useful read-through is not about prediction markets in the abstract. It is about jurisdictional classification. In British Columbia, the same product category that securities regulators said should sit outside securities and derivatives rules is now being treated by gambling authorities as gambling unless it runs through the province’s authorised channel.