Overview
Responsibility for the adjudication of liquor, gaming, cannabis and horse racing matters under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019, the Gaming Control Act, 1992, the Cannabis Licence Act, 2019 and the Horse Racing Licence Act, 2015 rests with the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT), which is an adjudicative tribunal, part of Tribunals Ontario, that adjudicates matters involving licensing activities regulated by various ministries. LAT is an independent tribunal and is not part of the AGCO.
If you have received one of the following documents, you have the right to a hearing/appeal before LAT:
- Notice of Proposal (NOP); or
- Order of Monetary Penalty (OMP)
If the Registrar is seeking to refuse, revoke, or suspend your licence/registration, or has issued an OMP that you wish to appeal, you must request a hearing before LAT within fifteen (15) days after the notice is served on you. For more information about requesting a hearing/appeal as well as any fees LAT may require, please visit the LAT website.
Notice of Proposal
If the Registrar proposes to refuse, revoke or suspend a licence, the Registrar must serve an NOP on the applicant/licensee outlining the reasons for the proposed action.
Applicants/licensees who dispute an NOP issued by the Registrar may appeal the proposal. If you receive an NOP and wish to request a hearing, you have fifteen (15) days from when the notice is served on you to appeal to LAT. If an appeal is not received within fifteen (15) days, the Registrar will carry out the proposed action and/or a final order will be issued.
In a situation where there are serious violations alleged such that it is in the public interest not to allow a licensee to continue to sell or serve liquor, the Registrar may issue an immediate suspension of a liquor licence. The suspension takes effect immediately on the licensee being served. The immediate suspension remains in effect for up to fifteen (15) days following the receipt of a Notice of Appeal. LAT Tribunal members, at a hearing of that appeal within those fifteen (15) days, may extend the immediate suspension or allow it to expire.
The Registrar´s legal counsel is available to address issues related to settlement, disclosure or narrowing the issues prior to a hearing/appeal. Please contact the Registrar´s legal counsel, by email at legalservices@agco.ca.
Order of Monetary Penalty
If the Registrar issues an OMP, the Registrar must serve the OMP on the licensee which includes the allegation(s) plus details of the alleged violation(s) in the order. Licensees who dispute an OMP issued by the Registrar may appeal the order. If you receive an OMP and wish to request an appeal, you have fifteen (15) days from when the order is served on you to submit a written request for an appeal to LAT, in the form required by LAT. If an appeal of the monetary penalty is not received by LAT within fifteen (15) days, the OMP will be enforced as imposed by the Registrar. The OMP is a legal order and non-payment may result in further action being taken against your licence.
Public Interest Hearings
The AGCO is required to post public notices, including in the following instances, in order to allow local residents the opportunity to voice their comments and/or objections:
- Where an application for a liquor sales licence has been filed with the AGCO and there has been no liquor sales licence at that address for at least six (6) months;
- Where an existing liquor sales licensee wishes to increase the licensed capacity of the establishment (indoor or outdoor) by more than 25%; and
In the above instances, the AGCO will post a public notice on the AGCO website, publish the information through its Twitter account and provide the applicant with a placard to post at the premises.
This public notice offers residents in the municipality an opportunity to respond to the application and to voice any concerns or objections to the application within the time period set as posted on the AGCO website and on the placard.
Where there have been objections filed with the AGCO, a public meeting may be arranged with a Deputy Registrar, the licence applicant and the objectors. The meeting may be held by telephone conference. The purpose of the meeting is to identify the concerns of the residents and see if the concerns can be resolved. The Deputy Registrar can approve the issuance of the licence if the issues can be resolved.
If the issues cannot be resolved at the public meeting then the Deputy Registrar may send the matter to a public interest hearing before LAT. For information about public interest hearings, please contact LAT at 416 314-4260 or 1 800 255-2214 (toll free).
Decisions
Responsibility for adjudication of liquor and gaming matters before July 2011 resided with the AGCO Board. All final decisions of the Board of the AGCO can be found on QuickLaw-LexisNexis (subscription required). Final decisions of the Board of the AGCO since January 2007 can also be found on Can LII.
You can access LAT decisions on CanLII here.
Decision Summaries
The AGCO publishes Decision Summaries listing liquor licensed establishments that received suspensions of 14 days or more or had their licence revoked. An archive of these Decision Summaries is contained below.
2021 Quarterly Decision Summaries
- Decision Summary – July 1 to September 30, 2021
- Decision Summary – April 1 to June 30, 2021
- Decision Summary – January 1 to March 31, 2021
2020 Quarterly Decision Summaries
- Decision Summary – October 1 to December 31, 2020
- Decision Summary – July 1 to September 30, 2020
- Decision Summary – April 1 to June 30, 2020
- Decision Summary – January 1 to March 31, 2020
2019 Quarterly Decision Summaries
- Decision Summary – October 1 to December 31, 2019
- Decision Summary – July 1 to September 30, 2019
- Decision Summary – April 1 to June 30, 2019
- Decision Summary – January 1 to March 31, 2019
2018 Quarterly Decision Summaries
- Decision Summary – October 1 to December 31, 2018
- Decision Summary – July 1 to September 30, 2018
- Decision Summary – April 1 to June 30, 2018
- Decision Summary – January 1 to March 31, 2018
2017 Quarterly Decision Summaries
- Decision Summary – October 1 to December 31, 2017
- Decision Summary – July 1 to September 30, 2017
- Decision Summary – April 1 to June 30, 2017
- Decision Summary – January 1 to March 31, 2017
If you would like a copy of a Decision Summary from 2016 or earlier, please contact AGCO Customer Service at customer.service@agco.ca or 416-326-8700, or toll-free in Ontario at 1-800-522-2876.
Legal Representation
The Registrar is always represented by experienced legal counsel or occasionally by a student-at-law supervised by experienced legal counsel. The Registrar´s legal counsel can be contacted by email at legalservices@agco.ca.
While you are not required to have a representative in the hearing/appeal, you should think carefully before deciding to represent yourself. A hearing/appeal is a quasi-judicial process very similar to appearing in a court. The Member(s) of LAT hearing the case must remain neutral and cannot help you present your evidence or give you advice. You are expected to know and follow LAT’s Rules of Practice. Ask yourself whether you will be comfortable enough with the process and issues in dispute to be a good advocate on your own behalf. If you do decide to represent yourself, consider consulting a legal representative before the hearing for advice on the strengths and weaknesses of your case and how to best present it to the Tribunal.
If you do not have a representative, you can contact the Lawyer Referral Service (LRS) of the Law Society of Ontario. LRS will provide the name of a lawyer in your area who will give you a free consultation of up to a half hour. LRS is not connected with Legal Aid Ontario. To find out whether you qualify for Legal Aid assistance, call 1-800-668-8258.