AGCO and PointsBet Canada settle: two-day Ontario suspension and independent audit

The AGCO, Ontario's alcohol and gaming regulator, announced on 20 October that it has settled with PointsBet Canada, closing the proceeding that began with its Notice of Proposed Order in February 2026. PointsBet will have its Ontario gaming site suspended for two days and will undergo an independent audit.

The outcome is likely to shape how Ontario operators view the regulator's expectations on suspicious-betting detection and reporting.

What happened

According to the AGCO, the settlement concludes the regulatory proceeding. Under its terms, PointsBet accepted that its Ontario gaming site would be suspended for two days.

PointsBet also agreed to carry out an independent audit to strengthen its control environment. The auditor and the audit methodology must be approved by the AGCO. The AGCO said PointsBet commits to addressing any findings, and that the remediation will be independently validated.

The proceeding started in February 2026, when the AGCO issued a Notice of Proposed Order seeking a five-day suspension of PointsBet's igaming registration. The regulator described it as a first in Ontario's regulated igaming industry. It alleged that PointsBet had systematically failed to monitor, detect, document and report patterns of suspicious betting linked to the 2024 bet-rigging scheme involving NBA player Jontay Porter.

In its February release, the AGCO said that in early 2024 it had instructed every Ontario-regulated sportsbook to state whether it had taken bets on Porter, and whether it had detected and reported suspicious activity. It said PointsBet advised, after significant delay, that it had not offered such bets. After a US Department of Justice indictment was released in October 2025, the AGCO required operators to reconfirm. The regulator said PointsBet then acknowledged for the first time that it had offered betting on Porter in those games, eighteen months after its first response.

The AGCO said its review of PointsBet's wagering data confirmed signs of suspicious betting tied to the core of the scheme uncovered in 2024, and that those wagers should have been detected and reported when they occurred.

The regulator also noted prior sanctions against PointsBet: a monetary penalty in May 2022 for advertising and inducement-related violations, and a second in November 2023 relating to violations of the responsible gambling standards in Ontario.

The AGCO said an operator that receives a notice of proposed order to suspend its registration has 15 days to appeal to the Licence Appeal Tribunal.

Why it matters

Operators in Ontario will need to check that their monitoring, documentation and reporting of unusual betting activity would stand up to regulatory review, including how quickly they answer AGCO information requests. The February release suggests the AGCO could treat the timing and accuracy of PointsBet's responses as part of its case.

The settlement also shows the route the proceeding took. A five-day suspension was proposed, and the agreed outcome is a two-day suspension plus an audit. Operators facing similar proceedings could weigh negotiated remediation, including audits with regulator-approved methodology, against contesting a proposed order at the Licence Appeal Tribunal.

For affiliates working with PointsBet in Ontario, a two-day suspension of the operator's site is likely to interrupt traffic to that brand for the period. Affiliates should confirm with their partner the timing and any tracking or campaign adjustments.

The AGCO's chief executive and registrar, Dr. Karin Schnarr, said in February that the regulator requires operators to have robust systems and comprehensive staff training so that suspicious activity is reliably detected and reported, and that it will take appropriate action when standards are not met. The settlement suggests integrity monitoring remains an enforcement priority in the province.

What's next

PointsBet is to undertake the independent audit with an AGCO-approved auditor and methodology, and the AGCO said the remediation will be independently validated.