2025 Canadian Gaming Summit concludes with record-breaking attendance

The 2025 Canadian Gaming Summit concluded last week, breaking attendance records and setting the stage for the event’s evolution into SBC Summit Canada.

In what marked both a culmination and a turning point, the 28th and final edition under the current name brought together key stakeholders from across Canada and beyond to reflect on challenges and chart a future course for the country’s gaming industry.

Commenting on the value of a Canadian-focused event, Cliff Nywening, COO of payment provider, Gigadat Inc said: “There are always moves and changes within the industry, so this is the perfect venue for us to collaborate, collaborate with the operators, collaborate with the providers, just to see what’s going on, what’s coming up and really being able to exchange ideas.” 

James White, Co-Founder and COO of affiliate brand HotTakes, praised the overall organisation of the event: “I’d give a ten out of ten. It took me, like, a minute to get my badge, and it seems like you guys have been on the ball with it.”

Over the course of two days, the summit welcomed over 3,000 professionals, 40% of whom held key decision-making roles. The event also saw strong representation from operators and affiliates, with 1,000 operator representatives—accounting for one-third of total attendees—and 200 affiliates in attendance. 

In addition, the event welcomed delegates, including leading suppliers, game studios, regulators, and government bodies, all looking to advance their standing in the Canadian market through networking and knowledge exchange.

The high calibre of attendees was a point noted by many, including Nywening, who said: “size doesn’t really matter, it’s about the quality. You’ve got quality attendees, quality vendors exhibiting, that’s all that makes a good event.”

Reflecting on the success of the event, SBC CEO & Founder Rasmus Sojmark said: “We have been at the helm of the Canadian Gaming Summit for three years now, and every year we have worked tirelessly to evolve this event that was already loved by many.

“This year has undoubtedly been our most successful yet. The feedback I’ve received has been incredible—conference rooms were full, the show floor was alive with conversation, and our networking parties were by far the most memorable to date. I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who attended.”

Serving as a crucial platform to explore the current challenges and future opportunities in the Canadian market, the event’s three-stage conference programme featured 150 industry experts covering key topics such as leadership, sports betting and casino, player protection, affiliation and advertising and payments and compliance. The event also featured a dedicated Cybersecurity Symposium in partnership with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

Amongst the notable figures that took the stage was Duncan Hannay (President, OLG), who kicked off the conference on Tuesday, June 18th with an opening address, followed directly by Honourable Doug Downey (Attorney General, Ontario), who partook in a fireside chat. In the afternoon, delegates were treated to a special keynote panel with Dale Nally (Minister for Service & Red Tape Reduction, Alberta). 

Reflecting on the educational opportunities at the event, Keith Geary, Director of Casino at European affiliate Game Lounge, said: “What I've been very surprised by is the attention on the panels and the quality of the panellists… the collaboration between the regulators, like the AGCO and the operators. It's amazing to see.”

Jessica Mars, VP Product Marketing at iGaming platform provider, Bede Gaming, praised the speaker onboarding process: “It was my first ever time talking on a stage, so I was quite nervous to start with, but all the preparation in advance really put me at ease.”

The show floor served as the heart of the event, hosting a number of local and global brands and giving attendees ample choices and opportunities to explore the products that can power their presence in Canada.

Commenting on the show floor, Margie Seitz, iGaming Business Development Manager at games studio, Konami Gaming inc, said: “I’ve kind of been stuck to my booth, which is really a good, good problem to have, because I really have been meeting with new clients, and it's been really amazing to talk to them.” Mars added: “It was really, really good to get a lot of traffic coming over to our booth as well and seeing people are really interested in what the future of Canada is, the different markets and how they're opening up.”

White expressed how the show floor was a great place to be for affiliates as well: “There's a good distribution of operators, as well, payment providers. It's been really easy to navigate.” Geary also agreed: “I've gained lots more contacts of operators I didn't even know who worked in the Canadian market.”

Nywening also commented on the show floor's value for the payment sector: “It gives a broad spectrum of the differences and the variety of operators, providers and ancillary providers that make up the ecosystem we call payments for iGaming.”

The show floor also gave new market entrants a chance to introduce themselves and build a foothold in the Canadian market.

Kweku Separu-Grant, Head of External Affairs at Lotto.com, said: “ We are new to the Canadian market, and trying to make a splash here. To have so many people engage with us, come by, be curious, and even interact with some of our goods. It definitely gives us a lot of encouragement about the market as a whole.”

This sentiment was echoed by Matt Rathbun, Chief Executive Officer at Maverick Games, who stated: “You'll really find everybody that you would need to connect with. If you're going to launch a new site, you could probably start here and collect all the different pieces that you need to put it all together.”

White also went on to praise the event’s dedicated companion app, SBC Connect, in helping facilitate networking opportunities on the show floor: “There are a few partners we were looking to speak with, with whom I hadn't had any connections before. So we messaged on the SBC Connect app, and actually got two meetings with new operators”

Alongside the networking opportunities on the show floor, the Canadian Gaming Summit also featured two dedicated evening networking events. 

On Tuesday, 17th June, delegates gathered at the RS Sports Bar for the SBC Canadian Gaming Summit Opening Party. The evening featured a live screening of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and Canada’s own Edmonton Oilers.

The following night, delegates were treated to a memorable experience at the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame for the Official Networking Party. Attendees explored the iconic museum celebrating Canada’s national sport, took part in interactive virtual hockey activations, and had the chance to meet NHL and Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark.

Discussing the two evening events, White said: “I was able to meet and connect with people, face to face, where you couldn't find time on the actual floor.”

Rathbun said, “There are a lot of people here that are maybe hard to find if you're looking for them online, so you might get your foot in the door.”

Seitz also commented on how valuable the networking opportunities were for connecting with operators: “This has been a really great event to meet additional operators, people that we haven't had the opportunity to speak with yet, to grow our footprint in the Canadian market.” 

“Our Canada event has earned its place among the SBC Summits. We're rebranding it as SBC Summit Canada to better align with our global event portfolio and deliver the signature SBC experience. We hope to see you next year.” Sojmark added. 

Save the date: SBC Summit Canada will take place in Toronto on May 19-21. For exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, contact [email protected]