Please keep in mind that casino bonuses exist to benefit the casino, not the player. Always approach bonuses with caution and be aware of their true value before spending money or signing up.
What Is a Casino Bonus?
The easiest way to explain a casino bonus is to say that it’s a specific promotion an online gambling operator will present to users with the intention of encouraging them to do something.
Bonuses usually manifest as the following:
Free Spins: A free spins bonus will give you some spins to use on slot games. The casino will most likely have conditions that determine which specific slot games you can use the spins on.
Additional Funds: Lots of casinos give you additional funds as a bonus, and this will fill your account with “bonus money.” This money stays separate from your real cash and can be used to place bets on different games, as per the terms and conditions.
What is a casino trying to encourage by handing out bonuses? Well, it depends on what type of bonus is up for grabs.
Understanding the Different Types of Casino Bonuses
I’ve mentioned free spins and bonus funds, but casino bonuses are normally split into different categories based on how the casino offers up the deal.
Welcome Bonuses
A welcome bonus is probably what you’re thinking of when you hear the term “casino bonus”, and that’s because it’s the type that gets advertised all the time. With this bonus, the casino wants to attract new players, so it will offer them some sort of promotion.
Examples include:
Join today and get 500 Free Spins
New players get a 100% Deposit Bonus
Sign up for $5 free
I’ve made those up off the top of my head, but you get the point; welcome bonuses draw the player in and get them to sign up. Also, you will get deposit or no-deposit welcome bonuses depending on how generous the operator is feeling.
Deposit Bonuses
Deposit bonuses are the most common type of bonus at a casino, and they involve you getting a special offer when you spend money. Going back to your welcome offers, you may see a deal that gives you a 100% bonus when you deposit $10 or more.
At the same time, you can definitely find some bonuses that give you free spins when you deposit as well.
As well as welcome bonuses, deposit bonuses usually come around as “reload bonuses” at online casinos. A reload bonus basically exists to encourage you to deposit money. Casinos offer them to regular players just to try to pull them back into the action.
No-Deposit Bonuses
The most self-explanatory bonus of all! No-deposit bonuses are as described: the casino will give you some type of deal without you needing to deposit money.
Now, a few casinos will offer no-deposit welcome bonuses as an incentive to make you sign up, but some like throwing them in as loyalty rewards. One thing I’d like to point out is that once you’ve joined a casino and spent money, is there any such thing as a no-deposit bonus anymore? Theoretically, yes, you don’t have to deposit money to get the bonus, but if you’ve spent it in the past, then that doesn’t really matter.
Cashback Bonuses
The final main category is a cashback bonus, which many casinos have started introducing across the Canadian market. A cashback bonus will reward you with a percentage of your losses as bonus funds.
E.g. A casino gives you a 10% cashback bonus on previous losses within the last week. If you lost $100 in that week, you’d get a $10 bonus.
Cashback bonuses will always have a time period attached to them - this could be the last day, seven days, a month, and so on. You’re then able to claim your cashback bonus on the losses within that timeframe.
Just popping in to say that there are other types of bonuses at casinos. You may see loyalty bonuses or VIP bonuses, as well as bonuses that are given to you for completing actions - like downloading apps. Pretty much all of those extra bonuses will still fall into the categories above, so think of them as subcategories.
The Basics of How a Casino Bonus Works
Okay, so, let’s say there’s a casino bonus available - how does the process of claiming this bonus work?
I’ve split it into a few stages, but regardless of what type of bonus there is available, you’ll always go through these steps:
Create Your Casino Account
You can’t claim a bonus without an account for the casino offering the deal, so the first step will always be to create an account. You’ll need to pass age verification checks to join online casinos in Canada - for a quick look at how old you have to be in different provinces, check out our guide here.
Note: Once you have an account, all subsequent bonuses will start with step two.
Meet the Bonus Conditions
This is where things get a bit complicated, as every bonus will have specific requirements attached to them. These requirements (or conditions) explain what you need to do to actually claim the deal.
Some examples include:
Simply creating an account (some no-deposit welcome bonuses do this)
Depositing a minimum amount of money
Entering a promo code
Clicking an opt-in box
The bonus should tell you what you need to do, so meet the conditions, and you will advance to step three.
Receive Your Bonus
When the casino is satisfied that you’ve met the right conditions, you should receive your bonus. Free spins will appear in your account as “free spins”, and you can activate them when playing eligible slot games.
Bonus funds will appear in a separate bonus wallet that keeps the money away from your actual cash.
Use Your Bonus
With the bonus in your account, you can start using it as per the terms and conditions. Always read the T&Cs before claiming an offer, as they will explain:
How you’re allowed to use the bonus
The games you can use your bonus on
Any max/min bet allowances for the bonus
Wagering terms and conditions (very important, I’ll go into more detail later in this guide)
See If You Can Withdraw Winnings
After using your bonus, you’ll be in one of two positions:
You’ve lost all of the bonus money/free spins
You’ve actually won a few games
Now, you usually have to meet specific withdrawal terms before you can transfer any bonus winnings into real cash. Thankfully, casinos normally have to tell you if you can withdraw your winnings, and they’ll explain what needs to be done to meet the requirements.
If you don’t win anything with your casino bonus, don’t use that as an excuse to deposit more money. By all means, deposit again if you just want to have fun and gamble responsibly, but do not attempt to chase any losses at an online casino, especially bonus losses.
Bonus Wagering Requirements Explained
I can’t explain how online casino bonuses work without talking about wagering requirements. I’ll try to keep things succinct, as I do have a separate article that explains wagering requirements in way more detail - check that out if you want a full walkthrough.
What are casino wagering requirements?
When you claim a bonus, you have to “wager” the bonus a specified number of times before you’re allowed to withdraw winnings from that bonus as real cash. Some casinos call these “playthrough” requirements, but they’ll be represented as a number.
E.g. 30x bonus wagering requirements.
Depending on the casino (or the particular offer), bonus wagering can apply to just your bonus or the bonus and your deposit.
You’ve joined an online casino and claimed a bonus that gives you a 100% match on your first deposit. You deposit $50 and get $50 in bonus funds, but the offer has a 30x wagering requirement for the bonus funds.
This means you take your $50 bonus and multiply it by 30.
Take the previous example, but then imagine the casino sets bonus wagering terms on the funds and your deposit.
In that scenario, you will have $50 cash and $50 in bonus funds. Combined, that gives you $100, and you need to wager the entire $100 30x to satisfy the requirements.
Once you have satisfied a bonus’s wagering requirements, the casino will usually “release” your winnings so you can now treat them like cash. You will then be free to withdraw money from the casino - though there are still additional conditions to know about, and I’ll go through them in a moment.
What About Wagering Requirements for Free Spins Bonuses?
Ah, yes, that can be a bit confusing, but there is a simple explanation for how this works.
Because free spins aren’t given to you as money, the wagering requirements are taken from any money you earn from the free spins. Let’s say you have a 200 FS bonus with 30x wagering requirements, and you end up with $15 total winnings from the spins; the $15 will be classified as “bonus” money.
Therefore, you have to wager $15 thirty times to satisfy the requirements - get it?
Again, I’d like to reiterate that I have written a guide to wagering requirements that explores so many more key things you need to know about this particular bonus T&C. Please give it a read, as I cover things like game contribution, expiry rules, and more.
Other Important Bonus Terms and Conditions to Know About
Your wagering requirements make up one of many different bonus terms and conditions that you absolutely must know before you claim a promotion of any sort. Legally licensed casinos are required to show you all of the conditions for every bonus they offer, so here’s a glossary of terms and what they mean.
Casino Bonus Terms Glossary | |
|---|---|
Minimum Deposit | This tells you the minimum amount of money you have to deposit to claim the bonus in question. You can deposit more, but you won’t get the bonus with less than the minimum. |
Maximum Bonus | This is the maximum bonus you’re allowed to claim for a specific offer. E.g. If you get a 100% deposit bonus up to $1000, then you’ll only ever receive $1000 max. You could deposit $2000 and still only get $1000 in bonus funds. |
Maximum Bet Limit | Some bonuses come with a maximum stake you’re allowed to wager while using the bonus. This prohibits you from staking too much in one go. |
Game Eligibility | Casinos will outline which games your bonus will be eligible for, and this means you can only use it on the game stated. Some casinos will simply note which games are excluded if too many are eligible. |
Bonus Expiry | Bonuses don’t last forever, and most will have an expiry date. This will tell you how long you have before the bonus disappears and can no longer be used. |
Maximum Cashout Limits | You may have a limit on how much money you can cashout from a bonus, even when you win. |
Payment Method Exclusions | It’s not uncommon for certain bonuses to only work if you deposit with specified payment methods. E.g. A casino will offer a bonus, but the deposit requirements are invalid if you use Skrill or Neteller. |
Bonus Stacking | This term details if you are allowed to activate more than one bonus at once. Some casinos will have a rule where you can only have one bonus active at once, meaning you have to play through an offer before claiming another one. |
Are Casino Bonuses Regulated?
Yes, casino bonuses are regulated in the Canadian gambling market, but just like everything else related to gambling, the regulations will depend on which province you’re in. As a quick little recap, online gambling in Canada is regulated provincially, not nationally.
This means there are currently two completely separate open online gambling markets in Ontario and Alberta.
For the other eight provinces, online gambling is more restrictive, and most will only include one online casino. You can see a list of the online casinos available in each province in my guide to online gambling.
The point here is that the different regulatory bodies will set rules that each licensed casino must follow if it offers bonuses to players. For Ontario, Section 2.05 of the AGCO’s Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming outlines a few clear rules:
Bonuses are allowed, but public advertising is restricted
All bonus conditions must be disclosed
Offers must be honest and not misleading
My personal piece of advice is to always be dubious about a bonus that either sounds too good to be true or doesn’t include lots of terms and conditions. As boring as it is to read through T&Cs, it’s a case of the more the merrier for casino bonuses - otherwise they’re hard to trust!
Withdrawing Money From Casino Bonuses
I’ve touched on the idea of withdrawing winnings from casino bonuses, but there is sadly more to it than satisfying the wagering requirements. Even if you manage this, you may have to deal with maximum cashout limits. These will state how much you’re allowed to withdraw from your bonus winnings.
Does this suck? Yes. How can casinos get away with this? I don’t know; it should be a universal law for every online casino - my only guess is that it’s seen as “necessary” to prevent users from completely wiping out the casino on a bonus.
Can You Claim Multiple Bonuses on Different Accounts?
No. This is actually one of the biggest rules in the casino bonus space: you are only allowed one bonus per account or household.
Think of this as the one true universal rule for bonuses, and it stops you from creating multiple accounts with different email addresses so you can get the same bonus over and over again.
This goes without saying, but you should never ever ever do this. Not only is it illegal, but it’s also a bit of a warning sign of problem gambling because you’re going out of your way to try to claim multiple bonuses.
The Dangers of Online Casino Promotions - Be Aware!
On the face of things, casino bonuses look like a benefit for players. You spend a bit of money and get something back in return - sometimes, you may even get some bonus money or free spins without needing to spend anything.
It sounds like a win-win, but it really isn’t.
You see, bonuses are not designed to benefit players, not really. They are a marketing tool designed by casinos to encourage new registrations or to keep players loyal. After all, a casino only makes money if the users keep depositing their hard-earned cash.
With that in mind, it’s good to understand some of the dangers associated with casino bonuses and why they might increase problem gambling habits in some users.
A reduced perception of risk: Because bonuses often include words like “free”, they give the impression that there’s almost no risk involved. It’s so easy to think that you’re betting with free money when you have a bonus, but in reality you’re actually spending a lot of your money claiming these offers.
Time pressure creates a sense of urgency: This is something that the Responsible Gambling Council spoke about when Updating the RG Index back in March 2025. Bonuses come with expiry dates, and this leads to time pressure, which creates a sense of urgency amongst players. It makes you feel like you need to act and deposit money or place bets before this timer runs out, and that can so easily encourage worse gambling habits.
Wagering requirements encourage repeat gambling: The mere idea of wagering requirements means you are almost forced to gamble over and over. If you used real cash, you could play a game, secure a win, and walk away. With a bonus, you have to then bet again and again before you even have a chance of withdrawing money.
May directly lead to loss chasing: I touched upon this earlier, but bonuses lead to loss chasing because you get a feel for the games and then want to recover your losses.
I would actually say that bonuses are one of the big differences between the risks of online gambling and land-based casinos. So, the next time you’re faced with a bonus, think long and hard about whether or not it’s actually worth claiming.
How to Spot a “Good” Casino Bonus
Keep in mind that all casino bonuses will still carry the risks shown above, so don’t take them lightly, and please gamble responsibly at all times. There are a few things you can look for that will tell you if a bonus is more worthwhile than others - and this can also mitigate some of the risks.
Low wagering requirements: Ideally, a bonus with no wagering requirements is the best because you can simply treat it like real money. If you win, then you win.
No cashout limits: Bonuses that don’t have cashout limits reduce the temptation to bet again with your leftover winnings, as you can’t withdraw them.
Low minimum deposits: The lower the minimum deposit, the less risky the bonus should be. If you only have to deposit $5 to claim an offer, then you’re more likely to fit this into your budget.
That brings an end to this very in-depth guide to online casino bonuses and how they work. The bottom line is that every casino will probably offer you something at some point, but you don’t have to claim it. And if you do want to claim a bonus, educate yourself on all of the key terms and conditions so you know what you’re getting yourself into.
Ben Tremblay
Copywriter & Head of Content
With hundreds of hours dedicated to online gaming, Ben knows what it takes to find a reliable casino and break down its pros and cons. He’s a specialist in responsible gaming tips and covers content related to all aspects of the Canadian online gaming space.
