The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is responsible for administering the lottery licensing program in the province – municipalities are partners with the AGCO in issuing lottery licences to eligible charitable and religious organizations.
A lottery scheme exists if money is paid or some other consideration is given for a chance to win a prize. Lotteries for non-profit and charitable organizations must be licensed. It is illegal to print tickets, promote or conduct a charitable gaming event without a licence.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for lottery licensing, the organization must qualify as a charitable, religious or non-profit organization with charitable purposes or objectives including:
- The relief of poverty
- Advancement of education or religion
- Other charitable purposes beneficial to the community:
- culture and the arts;
- health and welfare;
- amateur sports organizations
- the enhancement of youth;
- the enhancement of public safety; and
- community service organizations.
In order for an organization to apply for a lottery license they must first submit an eligibility review form. This form requires the organization to outline their goals and objectives, detailed list of programs and services provided as well as financial reports. One of the fundamental criteria for an organization to be deemed eligible is that it must be in existence and have a history of providing services for at least one year.
Please allow for 5 to 7 business days for staff to complete an eligibility review. Once the review has been completed and the Township is satisfied that the organization meets all eligibility requirements, the organization will be notified and may begin to apply for lottery licenses.
Types of Lotteries
Raffle Lottery is where tickets are sold for a chance to win a prize in a draw. A licence is issued for a maximum prize value of $50,000. All lotteries where the prize value is over $50,000 are licensed by the Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Blanket Lottery will allow eligible organizations to obtain one lottery licence to conduct and manage more than one type of raffle event within a fixed time period and within a capped prize amount.
Bazaar Lottery is a one-day event where any combination of the following lotteries may be conducted:
- A wheel of fortune event at which there are no more than three wheels and individual bets are no more than $2;
- A raffle or penny sale auction lottery not exceeding $500 in prizes;
- A bingo lottery not exceeding $500 in prizes.
Break Open Tickets are instant win lottery tickets commonly known as Pull Tab or Nevada tickets.
Bingo Lottery is a game of chance, selected at random on pre-printed bingo cards.
Fees & Reports
The lottery licence fee is based on 3% of the prize value for a raffle, bazaar, break open ticket and regular bingo lotteries. All lottery licence fees are payable by cheque drawn on the lottery trust account from the charitable organization that is applying for the licence.
All financial reports of the lottery event must be submitted within 30 days of the event. Failure to submit a report within this timeframe will result in the suspension of lottery licensing privileges. Financial reports must include copies of all deposit slips and receipts related to the event, list of winners and a list of donated prizes.
Organizations are also responsible for submitting verified annual financial statements within 180 days of the organization’s year end.
Application Forms
Completed lottery applications and fees must be submitted in person with the Clerk’s Department.
All applications must be accompanied by a sample ticket in accordance with the ticket requirements of Provincial Terms and Conditions 4.3/4.5. For 50/50 draws, the start and end number on the roll of tickets must be provided.
For more information please visit the AGCO Charitable Gaming website www.agco.on.ca or contact Amber Dashwood at ext. 224 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
