British Columbia Launches Independent Gambling Control Office — New Regulator Has Expanded Powers and Ends GPEB Era

British Columbia Ends the GPEB Era — The Independent Gambling Control Office Is Now in Charge

British Columbia has implemented the most significant structural reform of its gambling regulatory framework in decades, transitioning from the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch — a government-subordinate body — to the fully independent Independent Gambling Control Office (IGCO) under the Gaming Control Act 2022.

What Happened

The new Gaming Control Act (2022) and its associated Gaming Control Regulation came into force on April 13, 2026. On that date, the GPEB ceased to exist as a standalone regulatory body and all its functions, staff, and authority transferred to the newly established IGCO. The IGCO differs from the GPEB in four key respects: first, it operates at arm's length from government, removing the conflict of interest that existed when the same ministry oversaw both regulatory enforcement and gambling revenue collection. Second, it has expanded investigative powers and clearer authority to pursue financial crimes connected to gambling operations. Third, it can issue binding directives to BC Lottery Corporation — ending a situation where the regulator had no formal enforcement leverage over the provincial crown corporation. Fourth, it oversees all forms of gambling in the province under a unified regulatory authority. The IGCO also introduces new licensing fees — increasing gaming facility fees by 20% for revenues up to $100M, and bingo hall fees by 25%, the first increases since before 2011. Updated Voluntary Self-Exclusion policies and stricter marketing standards are also included in the new framework.

Why It Matters

BC is Canada's third largest province and one of the most complex gambling jurisdictions on the continent — with a history of major money laundering scandals involving land-based casinos (the Cullen Commission findings). The IGCO's independence from government is a direct institutional response to those findings: the previous GPEB was subordinate to the same ministry that also oversaw gambling revenues, creating a conflict of interest that the Cullen Commission explicitly criticised.

Industry Context

An arm's-length regulator with binding powers over BCLC is a structural reform of genuine significance for the Canadian gambling landscape. BC's Cullen Commission findings documented extensive money laundering through the province's land-based casinos and implicated structural regulatory failures — the IGCO's creation addresses those failures at the institutional level, not merely through policy changes.