NBA Betting Sites Canada 2025 – Top Picks

According to iGaming Ontario, NBA betting is the most popular market for Ontario sports bettors. We don’t have data for other provinces, but based on my experience, NBA betting is popular all over Canada. If you’re one of the Canadians who haven’t bet on the NBA before, you’ve come to the right place. 

This guide will break down how to bet on the NBA in Canada responsibly and legally at licensed sportsbooks. I’ll compare the top NBA sportsbooks, explain major markets, and more. Let’s dive right in with our favourite NBA betting sites.

You can use literally dozens of NBA betting sites in Canada. The average bettor doesn’t have time to test them all, but we do. Our team here at Calgry26 has rated and reviewed all the best NBA betting sites to make this convenient list for you to enjoy. Below you’ll find quick reviews of each of our top-rated brands, highlighting their NBA strengths, weaknesses, and other factors that contributed to their place on our list.

NBA betting is all about predicting which team will win and how players perform. Instead of just making predictions among friends, sportsbooks allow you to put your money on the line. If you’re right, you win money back. How much money you win depends on the odds. Betting odds represent both probability and potential payout. It’s essential that you understand betting odds and the basics before betting.

Core Bet Types

• Moneyline: A straight bet on which team wins the game. Margin of victory, total points, and all other factors are irrelevant. Just pick the team that you think will win. If you’re right, and they win, you win. 
• Point Spread (ATS): A bet on the margin of victory. Sportsbooks will set a spread based on the perceived gap in quality between the two teams. The team you bet on must win by more than the spread or lose by less than it.
• Totals (Over/Under): Wagers on the combined score of the game. There will be a line around where the sportsbooks think the total will be. You predict whether the score will be higher (over) or lower (under) than the line.

Other Markets

• Futures: Bets on season-long outcomes such as NBA championship winner and NBA MVP betting.
• Live betting: Bets offered on games that have already started with odds changing in real time. Any bet placed while a game is in progress is a live bet.

Example

The best way to explain an NBA betting market is with an example, so let’s go over how betting against the spread works. If you bet on the Raptors -6.5, they must win by more than 7 points for your bet to pay out. 

Now that you know the basics, let’s take a closer look at NBA betting in Canada.

Parliament legalised single-event sports betting in 2021 by passing Bill C-218. This amended the Criminal Code’s prohibition on gambling, but it didn't address how to regulate sportsbooks. Instead, each province is responsible for creating its own rules.   Because of this, NBA betting is legal in every province, but the types of sportsbooks available are different. You should only play at licensed sportsbooks.

Ontario Regulation

Ontario opened its regulated sports betting market in April 2022. This makes it the most established market in Canada. It’s also the market with the most regulation. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario have strict rules for all sportsbooks. These rules require certain levels of disclosure and responsible gambling tools. A sportsbook is not legal in Ontario if it’s not licensed by iGaming Ontario.

Other Provinces

Outside of Ontario, the lotteries are the only way to legally bet on sportsbooks. Proline+ and PlayNow are the most popular platforms, but lottery corporations are constantly updating their offerings. Some provinces, like Alberta, are also considering expanding their markets to copy Ontario’s model.

Payments & Age Requirements

To sum up the key points about the Canadian gambling market: 

• The legal gambling age is 19 in Ontario, BC, and other most provinces and 18 in Alberta, Quebec, Manitoba.
• The most popular payment methods are Interac, credit/debit cards, and e-wallets. 
• GameSense, ConnexOntario, and the Responsible Gambling Council are the largest responsible gambling organizations.

With this legal betting framework in mind, let’s look at NBA betting apps in Canada.

Whether it’s with dedicated NBA betting apps or mobile betting sites, most Canadian sports bettors are using their phones to place their bets. This is because mobile betting is more convenient for live bets and push notifications help you never miss the action. However, not all betting apps have these tools. Let’s take a look at some of the top NBA betting apps in Canada and their standout features.

As you can see, all the top NBA betting apps have different sportsbook features and selling points. Whatever you’re interested in, there’s sure to be a betting app that you’ll enjoy using here in Canada.

There are a lot of NBA betting sites in Canada, and not all of them are good. To help you find a site worth using, we’ve identified four major factors you should consider before creating your sportsbook account.

Licensing & Safety

Safety is the most important factor when picking where to play. You should only play at licensed and regulated sportsbooks. This means sites licensed by iGaming Ontario in Ontario and the local lotteries in other provinces. Licensing protects you from scams and ensures that responsible gambling tools are available to users who need them.

Odds & Market Variety

A sportsbook would be worthless for NBA betting if it didn’t have any NBA betting markets. You should pick a betting site with competitive odds and deep NBA betting markets, including spreads, totals, player prop bets, futures, and live markets.

Bonuses & Terms

Welcome bonus, odds boosts, reload offers, and special NBA promos are great ways to extend your bankroll. However, make sure you always read the terms and conditions and check rollover requirements and eligibility. Some bonuses are not as good as they seem once you read the fine print.

User Experience & Support

A sportsbook could have great NBA markets and features, but if it’s not easy to use you won’t enjoy betting with it. The top sites are fast with clear user interfaces and reliable customer support via 24/7 live chat and email. You should also be able to use the sportsbook on your phone just as easily as you can on desktop.

A lot of new NBA bettors think it’s just about picking winners. That’s definitely an important market, but it’s not the only one. Here are the other major NBA markets you can bet on in Canada.

Moneyline

A moneyline bet is the simplest NBA betting market. You’re just picking which team will win. If the team you bet on wins, you win. This is great for betting on underdogs since they have higher payouts. Favourites, on the other hand, have lower odds.

Point Spread (ATS)

A points spread is essentially a handicap to balance uneven matchups. To win “against the spread” the team you wager on must win by more than the spread or lose by less than it (depending on the team you bet on). For example, if the Raptors are -4.5-point favourites, they must win by at least five points.

Totals (Over/Under)

Wagers on the combined number of points scored by both teams in a game. Over/under lines are different for every game. In this era of fast-paced, high-scoring basketball, games often have high totals. Teams scoring 210 points or more is very common.

Player Props

These are wagers on some aspect of a player’s performance, such as how many points they’ll score, their number of rebounds, and even the number of 3-pointers they make. Player props used to be niche, but they’ve exploded in recent years among casual fans and fantasy sports players.

Futures

Futures are long-term bets decided at the end of the season, such as who will win the NBA title and award winners like MVP, Rookie of the Year, etc. These markets are typically open all season long. Odds shift throughout the season based on injuries, trades, and team performance.

Live Betting & Same-Game Parlays

Live betting allows you to bet on the game while it’s happening. Odds update constantly, which gives you plenty of chances to find value bets. Many sites even let you combine wagers into live same-game parlays.

Closing Line

These markets give you almost endless ways to bet on the NBA in Canada. You can bet on basic players, season-long features, and everything in between.

Being a smart sports bettor doesn’t just mean understanding the markets. You also have to understand the best betting strategies and be disciplined enough to apply them consistently. If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry. Below, I have prepared some of the best NBA betting tips that you should know about.

Manage Your Bankroll

Your bankroll is the amount of money you have set aside to bet with. Successful bettors are ones who strictly manage their bankroll. You should stick to small betting units (1–2% of your bankroll) and avoid chasing losses or betting emotionally.

Track Injuries and Rest Days

Every NBA team plays 82 games over the course of around six months. That’s a lot of games in not a lot of time. Teams play on back-to-back nights often, and stars get a lot of rest during intense stretches of the season. Missing stars affects spreads, totals, and pretty much every other NBA betting market.

Use Stats and Analytics

Analytics can tell you things that traditional stats and the mainstream narratives don’t. Understanding a few key stats like pace, Box +/-, and 3PA Allowed Per Game, and why they are important can help you identify value bets that others miss.

Line Shopping

Odds differ across sportsbooks—sometimes by a lot. Before you place a bet, you should always compare the odds at multiple sites to get the best value. This is called line shopping, and it can make a huge difference to your long-term profits.

Be Cautious with Parlays

Parlays are attractive to bettors because they offer high potential payouts. Don’t forget though, that parlays have higher payouts because they are riskier than single bets. Use sparingly and focus more on singles for more consistent payouts.

Closing Line:

These tips won’t make you a winner instantly, but they will make you a better NBA bettor. Most importantly, they will help you keep betting on the NBA fun and responsible.

NBA betting is legal in Canada. Parliament legalised sports betting in 2021, when it passed Bill C-218 to amend the Criminal Code. Since then, sportsbooks have been legal. However, regulating sportsbooks has been left up to the provinces, so rules vary across the country.

Ontario Regulation

Ontario is the most mature sports betting market in Canada. It’s also the most heavily-regulated. All legal Ontario sportsbooks must be licensed by iGaming Ontario and AGCO. This system was set up in 2022 and so far has been extremely successful. The Ontario market has many private sportsbooks, including major international betting brands like bet365 and DraftKings. It also supports a robust responsible gambling framework

Other Provinces

Outside Ontario, legal sports betting is mostly run by government lotteries. Each lottery has its own sportsbook platform (e.g., Proline+, PlayNow). The NBA betting markets on these platforms are smaller than Ontario sportsbooks, but they’re still competitive. If you want more variety outside of Ontario, you can access offshore sites as long as they are licensed abroad.

Age and Responsible Play

You must be over 19 to bet on sports in Canada (unless you live in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, where the legal gambling age is 18). Whatever your age, you should always gamble responsibly. Never bet more than you can afford to lose. If you need help, you can find it at organisations like GameSense, ConnexOntario, and the Responsible Gambling Council.

There’s no guaranteed way to make money betting on the NBA, but there are strategies that can help you win over time. You don’t have to use all these strategies. The most important thing is that you make informed choices rather than just going with your gut.

Fade the Public

Public opinion, news stories, and other bettors have a huge impact on betting lines. If the public has gone all in on one team, you can make a lot of money betting against them. In other words, it’s profitable to “fade the public.” This is hard to do though, so try to focus on big games with heavy action on the favourites.

Spotting Underdog Value

NBA underdogs cover spreads more often than you’d expect. That said, you can usually tell when an underdog might overperform. For example, if the favourite is playing back-to-back or on the tail end of a long road trip, they will be fatigued, which gives the underdog an advantage—especially if they’re playing at home.

Use Advanced Stats

Basketball has more advanced stats than pretty much any other sport. Use them. Look beyond the counting stats to things like pace of play, usage rate, true shooting percentage, and other more advanced stats. If you know what these stats are and what they mean, you’ll have a massive leg up compared to the average NBA bettor.

Closing Line Value (CLV)

The closing line refers to the line at tip-off. Ask any bettor, and they’ll tell you that closing line bets often have the worst value. Your goal is to beat the closing line value (CLV) by getting in early on good bets before other bettors get the chance to place their bets and affect the market.

Playoff-Specific Adjustments

If you’re going to bet on the NBA Playoffs, make sure you adjust your betting strategy. Individual player matchups matter a lot more than they did in the regular season. Coaches often shorten their rotation, so expect to see a lot more minutes for star players than usual. With that in mind, check the stars’ record against the other team.