Kahnawake gaming licence types
The Commission's interactive gaming regulations were enacted in July 1999. They set five kinds of approval:
- the Interactive Gaming Licence, held one at a time by the hosting facility, Mohawk Internet Technologies, which has held it since 1999;
- the Client Provider Authorization for operators hosted there, with no cap on their number;
- the Key Person Licence;
- the Casino Software Provider Authorization;
- the Live Dealer Studio Authorization.
The Commission also licenses land-based poker rooms, raffles and electronic gaming devices inside the territory. Licensed operators must be hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, a data centre in the territory managed by Continent 8 Technologies, and a licensed site shows the Commission's logo, which should open a Certificate of Good Standing.
Where the Commission's authority comes from
Sovereignty and the right of the community to govern its own affairs are what the Commission rests its authority on, and it cites the Kahnawake Gaming Law of 1996-97 and a 2007 decision of the Superior Court of Québec. It also holds that Canada transferred to the provinces in 1985 the power to conduct and manage gaming. That is the Commission's own position and not a statement by any government.
Where the licence stops
The Commission's pages describe a licence for gaming within and from the territory. Nothing on the pages read says that the licence authorizes games in a Canadian province, and the provincial regulators do not list Kahnawake permit holders in their registers.
The public list
The Commission publishes a list of interactive permit holders with their site addresses, dated 28 September 2023. It also posts notices, among them a suspension of one Client Provider Authorization, covered in the news item, and fee increases from the start of 2027. The companies on the list are shown on the page about offshore online casinos.
Complaints
A player first takes a complaint to the licence holder. The Commission accepts complaints at complaints@gamingcommission.ca or through its web form, and it may stop investigating when the matter is already before another jurisdiction or has been discussed publicly.