An announcement this week stated that the Canadian province of Quebec has entered into a deal to open a State-authorized online gaming operation. According to reports from CTV Montreal, Loto-Quebec, along with the operators the British Columbia and Atlantic Lottery Corporations, will set up a singular site in the second half of 2010 that will cater to citizens of Quebec.

Loto-Quebec, who runs the online lottery in the Canadian province, was authorized to begin operating an internet gambling and online poker portal for its citizens. The new site would compete against other online casino and poker sites and would not, officials state, monopolize the industry in the province. Despite the fact that online gaming is legal in Canada, the move by the provincial government has been painted as a way to eliminate unregulated operations that currently are in existence and increase revenue for the province.

CTV Montreal reports that over $600 million in revenue is pulled in by over 2000 operations, many of them outside of the government’s jurisdiction or the “black market,” as the government believes.

According to Loto-Quebec, the new site will feature several preventative measures that will help to thwart the occurrence of difficult issues such as age verification, deposit limits, and problem gambling. “(Other) online gambling sites obviously do not offer an assistance program for vulnerable players and it is left to the (government) to pick up the costs of problem gaming,” according to Loto-Quebec Chief Executive Officer Alain Cousineau as saying.

This latest move by Quebec follows other efforts in the United States, where jurisdictions are looking to take the online gaming industry out of the hands of the federal government. Three states – California, Florida, and New Jersey – may open their own state-run sites.