Kahnawake Gaming License: CPA Fees, Hosting Rules and Timeline

A Kahnawake gaming license for an online operator is a Client Provider Authorization (CPA) from the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, which has regulated interactive gaming from the Mohawk Territory near Montréal since 1999. This guide covers the fees in euros and dollars, the hosting rule, key persons, the phased timeline, the legal basis and how the CPA compares to Georgia's international permit.

How Kahnawake Gaming Licensing Works

The Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission regulates online gaming under section 35 of the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Law and its Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming, first enacted on 8 July 1999 and consolidated most recently on 25 March 2026. The licensing has two layers. One Interactive Gaming License is held by the hosting facility, Mohawk Internet Technologies, and operators and suppliers receive authorizations to work from it.

The Commission's news page shows an active regulator in October 2026, with one CPA suspended during the month and new commissioners appointed on 21 October 2026. A single CPA covers all three B2C verticals, which suits a combined casino and sportsbook brand weighing the best license for a sportsbook.

What a Kahnawake License Costs

The Commission's cost sheet, revised on 5 October 2023 and unchanged as of October 2026, sets the fees in US dollars. Euro figures below use the National Bank of Georgia's rates for 24 October 2026.

The Regulations put the CPA application fee at $35,000, including due diligence and the first annual fee; the cost sheet's $40,000 adds the first key person permit at $5,000. The first year's fee comes back if the application is denied. Late payments carry a 10% yearly penalty, and the control-system assessment is billed separately.

Year one sits above Malta's €30,000 and below Curaçao's €52,042, and every year after costs less than either, which puts the CPA near the middle of any table of gambling license costs by country.

Hosting in Kahnawà:ke Is Mandatory

Section 34 of the Regulations requires CPA holders to conduct their gaming from the co-location facility owned and operated by the holder of a valid Interactive Gaming License in Kahnawà:ke. The Commission names that facility as Mohawk Internet Technologies, managed by Continent 8 Technologies, and its application process notifies Continent 8 of each application.

The hosting rule is the main practical commitment of a Kahnawake license. The platform, or the part of it that runs the games, has to be deployable in that facility, and the hosting contract runs alongside the authorization for as long as the license is held.

Key Persons and Other Requirements

Every CPA holder needs at least one Key Person Permit holder performing managerial or operational functions, and each additional key person needs a permit of their own. The Regulations set no local incorporation or resident director rule, so the operating company can be formed where the group chooses.

There is no fixed capital requirement. The Commission decides whether a license holder or authorized client provider should post security and sets its type and amount (s.151 to 154). Section 6 requires CPA holders to make sure their operations conform to the laws and regulations of comparable jurisdictions.

Tax Under a Kahnawake License

The Regulations charge fees only, with no gaming tax, levy or charge on gross gaming revenue. Profit is taxed where the CPA holder is incorporated, since the Commission sets no local company rule and no profit tax of its own.

That makes the CPA's yearly cost fixed: about €17,900 plus the key person permits, whatever the revenue. The tax bill depends on the group's own structure and the country its operating company sits in.

How Long a Kahnawake License Takes

The Commission's application process sheet, updated 27 October 2023, gives the first phase an approximate time of four to eight weeks, of which due diligence takes four to six. A preliminary six-month permit follows, during which the control system is audited, and the full CPA comes after that.

The Legal Basis of Kahnawake Licensing

The Commission describes Kahnawà:ke as a sovereign jurisdiction just outside Montréal, and its licensing rests on the jurisdiction the Mohawk community asserts as a First Nation. Canada's Criminal Code takes a different starting point. Section 207(1)(a) makes it lawful for the government of a province to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province, and section 207(4)(c) extends that to schemes operated on or through a computer.

Ontario's regulator, the AGCO, states that the provinces are assigned responsibility to operate, license and regulate legal forms of gaming. The Code names no First Nation licensing power, and no court ruling we know of has decided whether Kahnawà:ke's licensing falls inside or outside it. The Commission has regulated online gaming from the territory since 8 July 1999.

Crypto and Restricted Markets

The Regulations do not mention crypto or virtual currency, and the Commission's fees are payable in US dollars. Curaçao, Anjouan, the Isle of Man and Tobique all address crypto in writing, so an operator comparing a crypto casino license has no Kahnawake rule to work from.

The Commission publishes no list of banned countries. Each CPA holder has to follow the laws of comparable jurisdictions under section 6, and the Commission notes that not all licensed sites are accessible in all jurisdictions.

Kahnawake Compared to Georgia's International Permit

Georgia's international permits, created by Law No. 1822 of 25 June 2026, license online casino, slots and sports betting for players outside Georgia from a company based in Tbilisi. The table sets them against the CPA on the points we use to compare gambling licenses, as of October 2026.

Georgia's case starts with the issuer. The permits come from national law and the Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance, a state tax authority, which must decide within 20 days of a complete filing or the permit is deemed issued. The five-year term runs from issue, with no six-month first term, and the law sets no minimum share capital.

On payments, Georgia's 2021 ban on gambling payments, in Article 13¹ of the Payments Law, applies only to foreign gambling companies and to payments by Georgian residents, so it does not stop Georgian banks and payment providers serving a Georgian-licensed operator. Georgian-licensed operators already take Visa, Mastercard and American Express deposits, with channels at TBC Bank, Bank of Georgia and Liberty Bank. Visa's rules require a licensed gambling merchant and an acquirer in the merchant's own country, which a Georgian permit fits with the license, the company and a Georgian acquirer in one country.

Tax falls on revenue, at 5% of foreign players' gross gaming revenue plus the 1% monitoring fee, with no corporate tax on profit kept in the company. Dividends paid abroad carry 5% withholding unless one of Georgia's 58 tax treaties lowers it, to 0% under several, including those with Malta, Cyprus and the UAE.

The costs are set per vertical. A casino with slots takes two permits under the Georgian online casino license, at about €34,400 a year each, and a sportsbook a third. The first year adds the platform audit and control-system integration, the 5% tax and 1% fee are owed in loss-making months too, and Georgian citizens may not play.

Kahnawake Gaming License FAQ