Gambling in Nova Scotia
Online gambling in Nova Scotia is readily available, with players able to access the province’s regulated online gambling platform through Atlantic Lottery as well as many offshore casino sites that accept Canadian players and CAD deposits. There are also several excellent land-based gambling venues across the province, including casinos, lottery retailers and harness racing tracks. Our guide to gambling in Nova Scotia covers everything you need to know about the province’s legal gambling options, from online casinos and sportsbooks to poker, lotteries and horse racing.
Online casinos
Online poker
Nova Scotia gambling guide
Nova Scotia is the second-smallest of Canada’s 10 provinces and, from a gambling perspective, shares many similarities with the rest of the country. Players have access to a mature gambling market that includes two land-based casinos, hundreds of Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), lottery games, online casino gaming, sports betting and horse racing, giving residents plenty of ways to wager both in person and online.
The province’s regulated online gambling is operated through Atlantic Lottery, which offers real money online slots, table games, live dealer titles and a full sportsbook. At the same time, many Nova Scotians also choose to play at offshore gambling sites licensed in other jurisdictions, with Canadian law generally not prohibiting residents from accessing these platforms.
Land-based gambling continues to play an important role in the province, with Casino Nova Scotia Halifax and Casino Nova Scotia Sydney remaining popular destinations alongside the widespread network of VLTs found in licensed venues. Lottery products, including Lotto Max, Lotto 6/49 and instant-win games, remain staples, while harness racing continues to attract a loyal following across the province.
Most forms of gambling in Nova Scotia are regulated by the Nova Scotia Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division, while the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency oversees horse racing at the federal level. The legal gambling age throughout the province is 19.
Sports betting in Nova Scotia
Sports betting is fully legal in Nova Scotia, with the province’s regulated online sportsbook operated by Atlantic Lottery. Players can bet on major sporting events from around the world, including the NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC, tennis, golf and soccer, with both single-event and multi-leg parlay betting available.
Atlantic Lottery serves all four Atlantic provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island — and offers a modern betting website alongside its online casino platform. In addition to online betting, sports wagers can also be placed at participating retail locations throughout the region.
Alongside the regulated provincial option, many Nova Scotians also choose to bet with offshore betting sites licensed in international jurisdictions. These gambling sites often offer larger betting markets, more competitive odds, live streaming, in-play betting and a wider range of promotions than the government-run alternative.
Most sports betting sites available to Nova Scotia players are fully optimised for mobile devices. Whether playing through a dedicated app or a mobile browser, players can place wagers, manage their accounts, deposit funds and withdraw winnings from virtually anywhere. Android and iOS devices are both well supported across the majority of leading betting sites.
Lottery in Nova Scotia
Lottery games in Nova Scotia are operated by Atlantic Lottery, which offers players access to Canada’s biggest national jackpot draws as well as a wide range of regional and instant-win games.
The two flagship draws are Lotto Max, which is drawn every Tuesday and Friday and can offer jackpots of up to CAD$80 million, and Lotto 6/49, which is drawn every Wednesday and Saturday. Lotto 6/49 now features two headline prizes: the classic Gold Ball jackpot and the guaranteed Classic Jackpot worth CAD$5 million every draw, giving players multiple ways to win life-changing prizes.
Tickets for these draws can be purchased at thousands of retail outlets across Atlantic Canada or online through Atlantic Lottery, where players can subscribe to recurring draws, save favourite numbers and manage their tickets digitally.
Atlantic Lottery also offers a broad portfolio of other lottery products, including Daily Grand, Daily Keno, TAGS, Bingo, Scratch’N Win instant tickets and a growing selection of online instant-win games. In addition to lottery products, players can access real money online casino games and sports betting through the same Atlantic Lottery account, making it a one-stop destination for regulated gambling in Nova Scotia.
Horse, harness and greyhound racing in Nova Scotia
It is all about the harness racing in Nova Scotia with three tracks holdings meetings – the Truro Raceway, Inverness Raceway and Northside Downs Raceway.
Truro Raceway is one of the oldest racing facilities in Canada and operates all year round with both live racing and simulcast featured. It is owned and managed by the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Commission and has more than 200 horses stabled there.
Inverness raceway has had racing since the 1920s and is owned by the diocese of Antigonish and remarkably is leased for 100 years by a non-profit organisation, which puts everything back into the facility and participants. The Inverness track operates most of the year and has live racing more than 20 nights per year.
Located in North Sydney, Northside Downs has been racing since July 1, 1898, but has had a turbulent history, including a shutdown from 1989 until 2007. The track features both live racing and simulcast and has again suffered some down times in recent years.
Horse racing betting is available on-course and through licensed pari-mutuel wagering providers, while Nova Scotia residents can also access online horse racing betting via authorised Canadian platforms.
Unlike some other Canadian provinces, Nova Scotia does not stage thoroughbred or greyhound racing, with the province’s horse racing industry focused entirely on Standardbred harness racing.
Online casinos in Nova Scotia
Consumers in Nova Scotia are free to play at online casinos based offshore and, while these operators are not licensed by the province, Canadian law does not generally prohibit residents from accessing them.
Nova Scotia now has a regulated online casino through Atlantic Lottery, giving players a government operated option for real money online slots, table games and live dealer titles. However, many players continue to use offshore online casinos because they typically offer a larger game selection, bigger welcome bonuses and a wider range of payment methods.
Atlantic Lottery remains the province’s only regulated online casino operator, while discussions continue across Canada about whether more provinces should adopt competitive licensing models similar to those introduced in Ontario and Alberta.
In the meantime, there are many online casinos licensed in well-established jurisdictions such as Malta, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom that accept players from Nova Scotia.
These websites typically support the Canadian dollar and offer a wide range of convenient deposit methods for local players. Many also provide welcome bonuses, free spins and ongoing promotions specifically aimed at the Canadian market.
Online poker in Nova Scotia
Online poker remains popular in Nova Scotia, with players able to choose between the province’s regulated gambling platform through Atlantic Lottery and a number of international poker sites that accept Canadian players.
Unlike Ontario, which operates a ring-fenced regulated poker market, Nova Scotia players can still access global online poker networks through many offshore operators. This means you can compete against players from around the world, resulting in larger tournament fields, bigger prize pools and more cash game action at all hours of the day.
Many of the leading online poker sites available in Nova Scotia support the Canadian dollar and offer a variety of tournament formats, cash games and promotions. Whether you enjoy Texas Hold’em, Omaha or fast-fold poker, there are plenty of options available for players of all skill levels.
Land-based gambling in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia has a thriving gambling scene for a province of just under 1 million people. Casino Nova Scotia has sites in both Halifax and Sydney which have been open for business since 1995. The province is also home to race tracks and thriving bingo halls. You will also find slots at some bingo halls and race tracks.
Horse racing tracks
Inverness Raceway:
Address: 112 Forest Street, Inverness, Nova Scotia
Info: Holds harness racing and simulcast racing.
Truro Raceway:
Address: 73 Ryland Avenue, Colchester County, Truro
Info: The biggest of the horse racing venues in Nova Scotia. Harness racing is massive at Truro with more than 300 horses stabled at the course. The venue also features off-course betting and simulcast racing.
Northside Downs
Address: 105 Regent Street
Info: This venue holds harness racing and features simulcast betting at the course.
Casinos in Nova Scotia
Casino Nova Scotia – Sydney
Address: 78 Churchill Street, Nova Scotia
Casino Nova Scotia – Halifax
Address: 1983 Upper Water Street, Halifax
Membertou Entertainment Complex
Address: Membertou Entertainment Center, 11 Chief Ben Christmas Awti’j, Membertou
Bingo venues
Bridgewater Legion Bingo
Address: 78 Churchill Street, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth Sportsplex Super Bingo
Address: 110 Wyse Road, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Farrell Hall Bingo
Address: 276 Windmill Road, Dartmouth
Halifax Forum Super Bingo
Address: 2901 Windsor Street, Halifax
Sackville LDRA Bingo
Address: 133 First Lake Drive, Lower Sackville
Online gambling laws in Nova Scotia
The Nova Scotia Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division is responsible for regulating gambling in Nova Scotia, while the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency oversees pari-mutuel horse racing across the country.
Lottery gaming has been legal in Nova Scotia since 1976, with additional forms of gambling introduced over the following decades. Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) were approved in the early 1990s and remain a significant part of the province’s land-based gambling industry.
The legal gambling age in Nova Scotia is 19, which is in line with most Canadian provinces.
While Nova Scotia now offers its own regulated online gambling platform through the Atlantic Lottery, Canadian law does not prohibit residents from playing at offshore online casinos licensed in other jurisdictions. Winnings from gambling are generally not taxable for recreational players in Canada, regardless of whether they are earned through domestic or offshore operators.
Canada’s online gambling landscape has changed significantly in recent years. Following Ontario’s launch of a competitive regulated iGaming market in 2022, Alberta opened its commercial online gambling market in 2026, while several other provinces continue to review their own regulatory options. Single-event sports betting has also been legal across Canada since 2021, giving provinces the ability to regulate legal online sportsbooks alongside casino gaming.