The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is responsible for administering the lottery licensing program in the Province of Ontario. Municipalities and the AGCO are responsible for issuing lottery licenses to eligible charitable and religious organizations. Eligible charitable and religious organizations may raise funds through provincially or municipally licensed lottery events. Licensed charitable organizations must conduct and manage their events in accordance with licensing policies and the terms and conditions of the licenses and fulfil all prescribed reporting requirements.
The Criminal Code of Canada defines what types of gaming activities are legal in Canada, and the provinces are assigned responsibility to operate, license and regulate legal forms of gaming. Advertising, promotion, selling of tickets, or conducting a charitable gaming event without a license is ILLEGAL. All lotteries must be conducted and managed in accordance with licensing policies and the terms and conditions of the licenses. This includes fulfilling all prescribed reporting requirements.
Lottery licensing refers to lottery schemes permitted by license under the Criminal Code of Canada. Typically, these may include bingos, raffles, break open tickets and special occasion gaming events held by charitable or religious organizations.
To simplify, a lottery may be defined as any scheme that has the following three components:
Therefore, a lottery exists if money is paid or some other consideration is given for a chance to win a prize. This includes door prizes awarded to participants attending an event where there is an entry fee (Door prizes at a paid entry event are considered a raffle lottery).
The Order in Council provides municipalities with licensing authority for:
Information on conducting and managing lottery events can be found in the AGCO’s Lottery Licensing Policy Manual (LLPM), which provides an outline of the legal and policy framework and administrative procedures for lottery licensing purposes.
When an organization applies for a lottery license, the following documents are required to be appended to the Application Questionnaire so that the municipality can further review the eligibility of the organization;
How to Apply: Applications for lottery licenses by the AGCO must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the date of the event and 45 days for organizations applying for the first time.
Incomplete Applications: Incomplete applications such as an application that dose not include the correct licensing fee or does not include the required documentations, will be returned to the applicant with a Notice of Deficiency detailing what is missing.
Once you have determined that your organization is eligible and have received approval from the Township of Madoc, you may proceed with your lottery license.
Lottery applications for all types of lotteries administered by the Township of Madoc can be obtained at the Municipal Office. All application forms can be found on the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) website.