Can Canadian Casinos Cancel Your Online Bonuses?

There are many reasons to pick an online casino. You can pick them based on the games they offer. You may pick them based on the online casino reviews you read. Or, you may pick them because of the great bonuses they offer. Bonus offers are a great reason to pick a casino. These offer free play or free money so you can get off to a nice start playing at a Canadian online casino or you can use it to test the casino out and see if you like it.

When you receive a bonus from an online casino, you assume it is yours to keep. Is that always the case though? We will go through all the ways Canadian casinos can cancel your online bonus. We will discuss how it can happen, how often it happens, the main reasons that it happens, and what you can do to avoid it.  

Can Casinos Cancel Canadian Players’ Bonuses? 

Yes, a Canadian online casino can, for several reasons, cancel your bonuses. This applies to all types of bonuses and promotions. It also means that they can take away a bonus that you have already received or not provide you with a bonus or promotion in the first place even if you believe you are entitled to it. Long story short, casinos have the ultimate control over their bonuses and promotions and can pretty much do with them as they please.

How is it Legal for Canadian Gambling Establishments to do This? 

Online casinos in Canada are governed by the terms and conditions that they list on their site. If you play on the site, you agree to these terms and conditions. In most cases, you have to check a box or electronically sign to say that you agree to abide by the terms and conditions provided by the site. In other cases, just playing on the site is acceptance enough that you agree to everything included in the terms and conditions section.

This section gives the casino legal cover to do whatever they please with their bonuses and promotions. Most have very specific actions or timing periods laid out that, if you do not meet the requirements, you can lose your bonus. A majority of Canadian online casinos will also have a broad, blanket statement that says (to paraphrase) they reserve the right to deny certain services to players for any reason.

 All this gives the site legal cover so that, if you do have your bonus canceled, rescinded, denied, or otherwise not give to you, there isn’t much of a legal leg for you to stand on. This is why it is always recommended that you read all the terms and conditions offered by an online casino. Although, if you don’t, you certainly aren’t alone.

How Often Do Canadian Players Have Their Bonuses Cancelled? 

Now that you are sufficiently worried about your favorite Canadian online casino taking your bonus away, we have some good news for you. Even though the site likely reserves the right to cancel your bonus at any time for almost any reason, chances are very good they will not do this.

The first reason that this does not happen all that often is that the world of online casinos is an extremely competitive one. Around the world and in Canada, the competition to attract players to gamble on one site versus another is incredibly intense. These casinos do anything they can to draw in players including giving lucrative bonuses such as first-time deposit bonuses, free plays for online slots, and more.

These bonuses and promotions are designed to not only bring players into the online casino but to keep them there as well. These casinos make money when players wager more and play more often. Bonuses and promotions are designed to get players to do this. Taking them away regularly or for little to no reason simply is not good business for Canadian online casinos. 

In addition to comparing the type and size of the bonuses that a casino is offering, Canadian players also tend to read online reviews of casinos to see if the casino is right for them and if it is safe and trustworthy. A casino that makes a habit of canceling players’ bonuses without major cause will quickly build up a mass of negative reviews that would hurt them much more in the long term than a player winning money from a bonus ever would. This is yet another reason why casinos rarely cancel bonuses and even less often cancel them without cause.

The Main Reasons Canadian Players Have Their Bonuses Cancelled

While casinos canceling a player’s bonus is not something that happens frequently, it does happen. These cancellations can be in the normal course of the casino doing business or they can be triggered by a player violating the terms and conditions set forth by the site in some way. Here are the top reasons why a player’s bonus might be canceled by a Canadian online casino.

The Bonus is Expired

This is the most common reason that a player might have his or her bonus canceled by an online casino. Many online casino bonuses, unlike gift cards in Ontario, are time-sensitive and have an expiration date attached to them. Sometimes, this expiration date is very clear. In other situations, you may have to consult the fine print to find out how long you have to use a bonus.

Whether it is abundantly clear or not, a bonus cannot be used at an online casino after it expires. It is not like a physical coupon where you might be able to slide it by an unsuspecting worker. These digital bonuses are only available up to their expiration date and, if that time and date pass, the bonus is no longer valid. 

If the expiration date is not front and center, a player may find themselves in a situation where it seems like the casino took away your bonus for no reason. This will usually trigger a chat or a call with customer service where you will find out that you missed the expiration date. If this happens, there is nothing you can officially do. The bonus is gone. However, as mentioned above, bonuses are meant to keep players happy with the casino so a conversation with customer service may get you a reinstated or new bonus. 

It is so important to read the fine print on all bonuses you receive. This will tell you exactly how long you have to use the bonus. There is no standard period of time that bonuses last so finding out the details of each one is critical. Some bonuses may never expire while others will give you anywhere from a month to a year to use. In some cases though, bonuses may expire in a matter of days or even hours so look for this information on every bonus and note it carefully.  

You Have Multiple Accounts

Outside of a bonus offer expiring, other things can happen that can lead to a casino taking away a bonus from a player. Many of these issues are clearly in violation of the terms and conditions. As a player, you want to try your best to avoid any of these pitfalls. If not, finding out that your bonuses are canceled may be only one of the punitive measures that a Canadian online casino will take against you. 

One big no-no in the online casino world is having multiple accounts on a single site. There are no online casinos (that we know of) that allow a player to create multiple accounts for themselves. Players will often try to do this in order to take advantage of a one-time welcome or first-time deposit bonus that the site provides. If a site catches a player doing this, they will likely cancel any bonuses given.

Online casinos these days are very aware of this scheme and have multiple ways of catching players who do this. Players aren’t allowed to sign up for an account with the same email address but if the casino finds that they are seeing deposits or withdrawals from the same bank accounts or digital wallets, they will flag your bonus and your accounts. 

Casinos also track and store IP addresses used by each account on their site. These IP addresses share information with the casino’s computers including what devices are being used and where the devices are located in the world. If the casino detects multiple accounts using the same IP, that will send up red flags as well which could lead to bonus cancelation.

Irregular Play

The next two reasons on this list that your bonus might get canceled by a Canadian online casino are terms that casinos use in their terms and conditions sections to cover themselves against a host of unauthorized and unwanted behavior. The first of these terms is “irregular play”. 

Many bonuses require that you play a certain amount of times before the bonus you receive can be turned into actual winnings. This serves to get the players playing for longer in order to reap the true reward of their bonus and ensure that a player doesn’t try the site once, using only the bonus, and ends up walking away with a huge win. It is a common practice from Canadian online casinos.

If a player is using their bonus and wagering in a way that seems to the casino like it is designed to circumvent the rules attached to the bonus, it can be canceled. These wagering practices include making repeated, low-risk bets on table games, frequently shifting between games, or even something very specific like not making equal bets on both sides in a game like Baccarat. If a casino observes you not playing in good faith like this, they may move to void your bonus.

Suspicious Activity

The other term that is a bit of a catchall for a casino is “suspicious activity”. This can refer to any number of actions that the casino deems out of the ordinary and makes them believe that you are doing something unsavory or even illegal. If an online casino suspects that a player is participating in suspicious activity, they can take away your bonus even if they don’t have concrete proof that your activity is actually fraudulent in some way.

If suspicious activity is the reason that a casino takes away your bonus, that may be the least of your problems. To protect from everything from hacking to money laundering, many casinos will outright ban a player if they suspect suspicious activity. This means on the site you are playing on as well as any partner sites that they have.

One type of suspicious activity that casinos are looking for is if one account signs on from multiple IP addresses. Many players will sign-on with a few devices but when that number starts going beyond what one player is likely to do, that can be suspicious. Also, if a player deposits money then takes it right out without playing with it, that could be a sign that the player is using the site to launder money.

Taking Advantage of an Error

Online casinos, in Canada and around the world, generally have very good technology that supports their endeavor. Likewise, online players should also use an acceptable level of technology and internet connectivity to play in online casinos. Even if this is the case on both sides of the equation, errors still happen.

Common errors that occur in the course of using a bonus during an online gambling session include things like your internet connection being interrupted during a game, a bug or glitch on a game page, or the software freezing while you are waiting to get the results of a wager. If any of these things happen, you should take a screenshot and contact the site’s customer service team immediately.

If you can show that this affected the use of your bonus, a site may be inclined to give it back as they want to keep players happy and avoid negative online reviews. On the other hand, if the casino finds you have taken advantage of these errors for your own gain, you can lose your bonus. The worst-case scenario is if they find that you somehow caused this error purposefully for personal gain. In this case, they can cancel your bonus and even ban you from playing.

Use of VPN

Verifying the identity and the location of all the players that play in an online casino is very important to the casino. They need to know who they are dealing with to protect their software from attacks and to protect themselves financially. They also need to make sure that they are complying with all local laws and regulations so that they don’t get in trouble themselves. This is why Canadian online casinos do not allow VPN software. 

VPN stands for the virtual private network. It is software that is used to make a public internet connection private and anonymous. When someone uses VPN software, the sites that they visit cannot see where the user is from or who they are via their IP address.

Online casinos are licensed and allowed in very specific jurisdictions. While online casinos are legal throughout Canada, this is not the case elsewhere in the world. Some countries have a full ban on citizens gambling in online casinos where others have some parts of the country where it is legal and others where it is not. 

For example, in the United States, placing a bet online, US sportsbook is legal in New Jersey but not in the bordering state, New York. This is just one example of why online casinos are so serious when it comes to not allowing players to use VPN software. 

While a VPN will mask your location and identity from online casinos, you usually cannot mask the fact that you are using VPN software. Most online casinos have VPN-detecting software and if they see you are using it, your bonuses can be canceled and you can be banned from playing on the site.

Abusive Behavior to Casino Staff

The last two major reasons that a Canadian casino can cancel your online bonus have to do with the terms and conditions related to player behavior on the site. In an online casino, players may interact with live dealers but they are most likely to interact with customer service staff. This interaction can be frustrating at times on some sites, especially when problems with bonuses or money arise. However, you must keep your cool in these situations or you risk the casino canceling your bonus.

In the terms and conditions on most sites, they are very specific about having a zero-tolerance policy about any type of language or abuse in regards to race, creed, color, sexual orientation, and more. There may be policies about other types of abusive language as well. If you lose your temper with a customer service agent, the casino will, at the very least, keep a record of it. At worst, they can ban you from the site. It is also good practice to keep screenshots or other sorts of records on your end too so you can protect yourself.

Abusive Behavior to Another Player

The terms and conditions relating to abusive behavior don’t just apply to the way you talk to and chat with casino staff. It also applies to interacting with other players on sites where this is possible. The same general rules apply as far as using abusive or hateful language. If you do it and are reported, you can lose your bonuses or your casino account.

When interacting with other players, many casinos have additional terms and conditions about conversational behavior that is not allowed and can get your bonuses canceled. If you promote another casino or gambling site to other users, this can land you in hot water. Also, if you make derogatory, disparaging, or untrue statements about the casino you are playing in, this may be grounds for punishment as well. One more time, this all reemphasizes the importance of reading the terms and conditions before you start playing in a Canadian online casino.

Canceling Your Own Bonus

It is not just the casino that can cancel your bonus. As a player, you are entitled to cancel any bonuses you receive, opt-in to, or purchase when playing in an online casino. There are several reasons you may want to do this. The restrictions or play-through requirements of a bonus may not as good as it seems and you may want to avoid them entirely. Also, if a bonus is related to a specific game or tournament that you no longer want to play, you may want to cancel your bonus.

To do this, most sites require that you send the request in writing so that they can cancel the bonus for you. One word of warning though; in most cases, bonuses that you pay for are non-refundable even if you cancel them. Be very careful about canceling these bonuses because you may lose money in the deal.

Deposit Bonuses

Many Canadian online casinos offer bonuses that are related to the player depositing funds in their account. There are many first-deposit bonuses, auto-deposit bonuses, or deposit matching bonuses that casinos may offer to encourage players to deposit more money into their accounts. If a casino offers this and your deposit is delayed or not accepted and you either miss out on the bonus or never get it, it can be a frustrating situation. There are several reasons that your deposit may not be accepted by the site that you should look into if this ever happens to you.

You are not verified

As mentioned above, casinos go to great lengths to verify the identity of their players for many reasons. If you have supplied incomplete, untrue, or unverifiable personal information, the site may not accept your deposit. Make sure you are fully verified by the site before you make your deposits.

Your method is not accepted

Most online casinos are very specific about what methods of deposits they accept. Read the terms and conditions to make sure the casino allows your account, card, or digital wallet of choice. Also, always double-check that your account, card, or digital wallet has the funds available that you need to make your deposit so that it is not declined.

You have self-imposed limits

Many online casinos that are accessible to Canadian players also allow players to set limits related to how often they play or how much they spend or deposit on the site. If you have set limits like this, a deposit may not be accepted if you are close to or over your limit. Usually, casinos are good about sending you a message or alert when you are getting close to these milestones.

Anti-gambling policies

You will not often find this in Canada but certain financial institutions or issuers may have anti-gambling policies in place on their products. It may not be legal for certain accounts, cards or digital wallets to be used for gambling in some cases. If you have a financial product with this restriction, the problem may be on that end as opposed to on the online casino end.  

Conclusion

Canadian casinos can cancel your online bonuses in certain situations. The site has full control over what bonuses they give, who they give them to, and if they cancel the bonuses of a player. The reason this is legal is that it is stated in the terms and conditions of the casino site. By agreeing explicitly or even just by playing on the site, you are agreeing to these terms and do not have much recourse if a bonus is canceled for any reason.

That said, this is not something that happens all that often and, if you know the main reasons that it can happen, it is relatively easy to avoid. When issued a bonus in a Canadian online casino, pay close attention to the expiration date. Also, make sure you aren’t going “bonus hunting” and engaging in underhanded practices to get more bonuses such as creating multiple accounts, using a VPN, or doing anything that the casino can deem irregular play or suspicious activity. You should also avoid taking advantage of technical errors or abusing casino staff or other players.

If you want to cancel a bonus yourself, you can do that but be aware that paid-for bonuses are likely non-refundable. If you are trying to revive a deposit bonus but your deposit is not being accepted, look at the most common reasons for this first. These include not being verified, going over self-imposed limits, or if your payment method is not accepted, not funded, or if it has anti-gambling policies attached to it. 

When you know the common reasons that bonuses are canceled, you should easily be able to avoid most of these situations and keep your bonuses to use at your casino of choice.