The Record Everyone Is Talking About
Loto-Québec broke the $3 billion barrier in sales for the first time ever in the last fiscal year, reaching $3.09 billion. That record total revenue yielded an annual dividend to the province of $1.52 billion, the highest since 2023. Lottery product revenue amounted to $995.6 million, while casino and gaming hall sector revenue reached $1.301 billion, up 8.3% year-on-year.
Loto-Québec also reported a payroll outlay of $442 million and distributed $324 million in commissions to retail partners, while contributing $36 million to problem gambling prevention and donating $18 million to local non-profits. That's real money moving through real communities across Québec.
CEO Jean-François Bergeron is proud. He should be. He said the "excellent" results demonstrate Loto-Québec's ability to maintain a trajectory of growth while generating significant financial benefits for the province.
The Boss Sounds the Alarm
Bergeron isn't just popping champagne, though. In Loto-Québec's latest annual report, he put something important on the table: the online game isn't good enough yet. As the user provided, the CEO wrote directly: "It is essential that Loto-Québec strengthen its presence in the online gaming sector, including sports betting, to ensure better oversight and guarantee that profits benefit the people of Québec."
That's a crown corporation CEO calling out his own corporation's weaknesses in print. You don't do that unless you feel the pressure.
And the pressure is very real. Quebec is losing out on an estimated $2.3 billion in Gross Gaming Revenue to unregulated, offshore platforms. Loto-Québec's platform, Espacejeux, currently covers only around 25 to 30% of online players in Quebec, leaving the vast majority playing on the unregulated market. That's a staggering gap for a monopoly to have.
Meanwhile, the competition is circling. Ontario's regulated iGaming market hit $4 billion in revenue in 2025, and Alberta became just the second province after Ontario to legalize a commercial, regulated iGaming market, which will launch on July 13, 2026. The country is moving. Quebec is watching.
What It Means: Short and Long Term
For the average Quebec player, the status quo still means one legal online option: Espacejeux. That's it. While DraftKings and FanDuel light up screens across Ontario, Quebec bettors either use the government platform or drift to unregulated offshore betting sites with zero provincial consumer protections.
For Loto-Québec as an organization, this $3 billion milestone is both a trophy and a warning sign. Net income has been flat since the all-time record reported in the COVID-19 pandemic rebound year of 2023. Casinos are booming, lottery is softening, and gaming establishments, including sports betting, are flat.
Bergeron has announced new gaming halls slated for Saguenay in 2027 and expansion of the Lac-Leamy casino resort, as well as a plan to begin allowing users of self-service checkouts in retail stores to buy lottery tickets at the checkout, which would be the first initiative of its kind in Canada. Smart moves. But the digital gap remains the defining challenge.
For the Canadian gaming industry at large, Quebec is the final frontier. With elections scheduled in October 2026, the Quebec Online Gaming Coalition has been making the rounds with all major political parties. If Quebec opens its market, even partially, it would trigger the largest iGaming expansion on Canadian soil since Ontario's landmark 2022 launch.
Three billion dollars is a milestone. But the real story isn't what Loto-Québec built, it's what it could lose if it doesn't move fast enough online.
