The federal government has given provinces permission to authorise greater sports betting than is currently permitted.

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The federal government has made it legal to bet on individual sporting events, giving legitimacy to a shady sector that already generates billions of dollars in revenue for Canadians.

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"Canadians will have the opportunity to participate in single-event sport betting in a regulated and safe environment, at the discretion of the provinces and territories," Attorney General David Lametti told a news conference.

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Canadians spend around $10 billion a year on single sporting events, according to the federal government, as part of illicit black-market betting by organised criminal networks. Canadians spend an additional $4 billion every year on the so-called grey market, in offshore jurisdictions where such wagers are permitted.

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The new laws may allow that money to be brought back into Canada in a form that can be tracked and taxed.

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"Canadians have been betting on sports for a long time, but there's been a relic in the Criminal Code that has prevented betting on individual events," said St. Catharines, Ont., MP Chris Bittle, who attended the event.

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"We have an opportunity to regulate, control it and take the money out of the hands of organized crime."

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