Kahnawake gaming licence: how the Client Provider Authorization works in 2026

A hosting-based regulator, not a company registry

Kahnawake regulates where your gaming system runs, not where your company is incorporated. Every CPA holder must be hosted at Mohawk Internet Technologies, the data centre inside the Territory that holds the sole Interactive Gaming Licence, managed by Continent 8 Technologies.

That model has two consequences. First, you do not need a local company or resident directors, which keeps the corporate side light. Second, your hosting choice is made for you: the platform components that run the games and hold regulatory records sit in the Kahnawà:ke facility, and the data centre is notified of every new application.

The legal basis is the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Law, enacted by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke on 10 June 1996, and the Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming, enacted on 8 July 1999 and last amended on 25 March 2026.

The five permits the Commission issues

Operators apply for a CPA and at least one Key Person Licence; studios apply for a Casino Software Provider Authorization; live dealer studios on the Territory need their own authorization. The Interactive Gaming Licence itself is reserved for the hosting facility.

KGC permit types, from the Commission's Permit Holders page, consulted September 2026

Kahnawake licence cost: fees now and from January 2027

Today a CPA costs USD 35,000 to apply, first-year annual fee included, then USD 20,000 a year. For complete applications and five-year renewals submitted on or after 1 January 2027, the application fee rises to USD 40,000 and the renewal to USD 40,000, both inclusive of the annual fee. The Commission publishes no gaming tax or revenue share on top of these fixed fees.

KGC advisory notices of 22 April 2025 (domains) and 13 August 2026 (fee increase)

Supplier and studio permits follow the Commission's interactive fee schedule revised on 5 October 2023: a CSPA costs USD 40,000 to apply and USD 20,000 a year, plus USD 3,000 for each third-party operator named on its operator list; a Live Dealer Studio Authorization costs USD 30,000 to apply and USD 10,000 a year. One Key Person Permit is included in each authorization fee. Unpaid amounts accrue interest at 10% a year.

The August 2026 notice explains the reasoning: CPA fees had changed only twice since they were introduced, most recently in 2016, and Key Person fees never. If you plan to apply, a complete file lodged before 1 January 2027 is assessed under the current schedule even if the decision comes later.

Hosting at the licensed facility is contracted separately with the data centre and is not a Commission fee, so budget for it as its own line.

Three phases from application to a full CPA

The KGC process runs in three phases: an application phase of about four to eight weeks, a six-month preliminary permit during which an Approved Agent audits your control system, and the issue of the full CPA followed by return-to-player testing. The timeline depends mostly on how complete your disclosure is.

KGC "Application Process for a Client Provider Authorization", updated 27 October 2023

The application pack is a set of numbered schedules: B (business entity information), C (personal information for each individual), D (the CPA application), E (key person), I (control system submission) and, for studios, K (live dealer studio) or N (casino software provider), together with a full disclosure assurance form and criminal record consent.

Rules you will operate under

The Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming set the player protection baseline: an approved age that is the higher of 18 or the gambling age in the player's home jurisdiction, self-limitation and self-exclusion, complaint handling by the Commission and technical standards for every control system.

• Technical standards. The Commission approves standards for internet random number generators, reporting, network infrastructure, wagering applications, system integrity and games in general; material changes to an approved control system need prior approval.
• Self-exclusion. Players can self-exclude from one operator or file a Comprehensive Self-Exclusion Request with the Commission, which then directs every authorized client provider to block that player.
• Complaints. Players can bring unresolved disputes to the Commission, generally within six months of the event.
• Responsible gaming page and warnings. Limits and exclusion procedures must be explained on each site, with a risk warning on the home page.
• Logo certificate. Each licensed domain displays the KGC logo linked to the Commission's certificate of good standing.

Recent Kahnawake news worth knowing

The Commission has been active in 2025 and 2026: a per-domain fee, a fee increase for 2027, an agreement with another Indigenous regulator and a public fraud alert. None of these changes the core model, but they affect budgets and diligence.

• 22 April 2025: the annual CPA fee now covers up to six domains, with USD 500 a year for each additional domain.
• 26 November 2025: the KGC warned that a look-alike website was falsely claiming to issue its licences, and reminded the market that genuine permits are issued only by the Commission itself. Anyone offering a "Kahnawake licence" should be able to show that the application goes to the Commission directly.
• 26 June 2026: the KGC and the Six Nations Gaming Commission signed a new memorandum of understanding, with the KGC assisting the development of an online gaming framework at Six Nations of the Grand River.
• 13 August 2026: CPA and Key Person Permit application and renewal fees rise from 1 January 2027.

Kahnawake and your game catalogue

Under a CPA, the games themselves are covered through the control system that the Commission approves and its Approved Agents audit, including RTP testing after the full CPA is issued. Your question for every content supplier is how its titles fit that approval: can it supply RNG and RTP certificates from an independent laboratory, and does it hold a CSPA or is it integrated as a third-party component of your approved system?

Laboratories such as GLI, BMM Testlabs, iTech Labs and eCOGRA are widely used for these certificates, and large studios (Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Play'n GO, Hacksaw Gaming, BGaming, Spribe) keep certificate packs ready for regulators. Any change to a game module counts as a change to your control system, so keep your supplier's version history close.

Because CPA holders often run several brands and domains, lobby control is the daily issue. With a casino aggregator API, each game carries metadata (studio, category, supported currencies, market), so you can publish a different, compliant selection per domain from the same integration. Studio territory rules are applied through a country parameter at launch, demo play is a separate getGameDemo call, and the seamless wallet keeps every balance in your own system. Kahnawake permits cover sportsbook as well, so many operators add a sportsbook API and live dealer tables on the same wallet. SoftAggregator provides all three through one API, with 40,000+ games from 200+ providers; CAD, USD and EUR are among the native currencies, and a site can run multi-currency per player or locked to one currency.

Who a Kahnawake permit suits

A CPA suits operators who want a long-established regulator with fixed, published fees, no gaming tax in the fee schedule and no requirement to build a local company or appoint resident directors. It fits less well if you need an EU base or a licence from the target country itself, which Kahnawake cannot replace.

Compare the cost structure with the Isle of Man or Malta guides, or return to the licence hub. This guide is general information, not legal advice; take local counsel on the markets you intend to serve.

Questions operators ask about Kahnawake

Sources and last update

All fees and procedures on this page are taken from the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission's own publications, read in September 2026. Where an older schedule and a newer notice differ, we follow the newer notice.

• Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, advisory notice "Increase of Fees", 13 August 2026 (CPA and Key Person fees from 1 January 2027).
• Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, advisory notice "New Fee Structure for Licensed Domains", 22 April 2025.
• Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, "Interactive Fees" schedule, revised 5 October 2023 (CSPA and live dealer studio fees).
• Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, "Application Process for a Client Provider Authorization", updated 27 October 2023.
• Regulations concerning Interactive Gaming, enacted 8 July 1999, last amended 25 March 2026; Kahnawà:ke Gaming Law, 1996.
• Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, Permit Holders and About Interactive Gaming pages; press releases of 26 November 2025 and 26 June 2026.

Last reviewed: 24 September 2026.