Wealthsimple’s new prediction markets app exposes gaps in Canada’s gambling protections

Canada has approved two firms to sell prediction market contracts as investments. (Unsplash) Wealthsimple’s new prediction markets app exposes gaps in Canada’s gambling protections Published: August 6, 2026 10.12am EDT Share article Print article Wealthsimple’s new prediction markets app recently launched, in partnership with Kalshi, an American prediction market platform. It’s only the second firm in the country authorized by Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) to do so, after Interactive Brokers Canada. Prediction markets allow users to trade and invest in real-world outcomes by purchasing a contract tied to the outcome of a real-world event. Users typically place a binary yes-or-no bet on a wide range of events: sports outcomes, elections, political events, economic data, corporate earnings, the price of commodities, climate change, geopolitics, cultural events and even entertainment events. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s recent wedding, for instance, generated millions of dollars in wagers. The price of an individual contract changes based on the probability of the event occurring, with prices fluctuating based on news or speculation around a specific event. Events can be immediate or long-term. Wealthsimple’s app will give Canadians access to nearly 4,000 of Kalshi’s event contracts, with restrictions. Contracts must have a maturity term of 30 days or longer and are limited to three categories: economic forecasts, environment forecasts and financial indicators. CIRO has said other categories, including elections, political events like party leadership races or referendum results or contracts tied to unlawful activities under Canadian law, remain strictly prohibited. A booming global industry Wealthsimple’s launch is a small entry point into a much larger industry. Prediction markets, while not new, have exploded in recent years as they have become an avenue to wager on virtually anything. Led by Polymarket, Kalshi and Robinhood, they have grown into a billion-dollar worldwide industry with millions of users. Given that many prediction markets involve a large proportion of wagers on sports events, a growing number of gambling operators such as DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics, investment firms like Charles Schwab and tech companies that include Meta are either developing or already running their own. Advertisements by Polymarket predict a victory for Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral election on Nov. 4, 2025, in…