PointsBet Canada will seek a hearing before the Licence Appeal Tribunal to challenge a proposed five-day suspension issued by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).
The proposed order, dated Feb. 12, 2026, outlines the regulator’s intention to suspend the company’s licence for five days. PointsBet Canada said it believes the proposed sanction is disproportionate to what it described as an isolated incident resulting from human error.
According to the company, the matter did not involve a systemic failure or any intent to withhold information. PointsBet stated that once the accurate data was identified, it was promptly disclosed to the AGCO, and the company has cooperated fully with the regulator throughout the investigation.
“We have a strong compliance record in Ontario and remain fully committed to the highest standards of integrity and player protection,” said Scott Vanderwel, PointsBet Canada Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to presenting our case at the Tribunal.”
The company said it will provide updates as the process moves forward.
Background on the regulatory action
The Ontario regulator alleges the operator failed to report suspicious bets linked to a 2024 betting scandal involving former National Basketball Association player Jontay Porter.
In what the regulator described as a first for Ontario’s regulated iGaming industry, the AGCO issued a Notice of Proposed Order to suspend PointsBet’s registration, citing what it called “a systemic failure to properly monitor, detect, document, and report suspicious betting patterns” related to the Porter case, which has been the subject of a major criminal investigation in the United States.
In early 2024, after allegations of insider betting involving Porter, who played for the Toronto Raptors, the AGCO directed all provincially regulated sportsbooks to confirm whether they had offered bets on the player and whether any suspicious betting activity had been detected and reported. PointsBet, after what the regulator described as a significant delay, advised the AGCO that it had not offered such bets.
However, in October 2025, following the public release of an indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice that revealed the Porter case formed part of a broader insider betting scheme, the AGCO required operators to reconfirm whether suspicious betting had occurred on Porter-related markets. In response to the renewed inquiry – eighteen months after its initial reply – PointsBet acknowledged for the first time that it had offered betting on Porter in those games.
After reviewing the operator’s wagering data, the regulator confirmed indications of suspicious betting that were central to the scheme uncovered in 2024. According to the regulator, those wagers should have been detected and reported at the time they occurred.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2026/03/02/117824-pointsbet-canada-to-contest-ontario-regulator-39s-proposed-fiveday-licence-suspension
