Hearings, Appeals, Dispute Resolution, and Settlements

The Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is independent of the AGCO and is an adjudicative tribunal that is part of Safety, Licensing Appeals and Standards Tribunals Ontario. LAT is responsible for adjudicating appeals regarding decisions on licensing and registration matters made by different regulators. If a person who receives a Notice of Proposal (NOP) or Notice of Proposed Order (NOPO) about a liquor, gaming, horse racing, or cannabis licensing matter and wishes to request a hearing, it will be held before LAT. Those liquor, gaming, or cannabis licensees who are assessed an Order of Monetary Penalty by the Registrar can appeal the Order to LAT. Horse racing licensees can appeal the Order to the HRAP.

LAT hearings are related to:

  • the Registrar’s refusal to licence or register under the Liquor Licence Act (LLA), Gaming Control Act 1992 (GCA), Horse Racing Licence Act 2015 (HRLA) and Cannabis Licence Act 2018 (CLA);
  • other proposed actions by the Registrar under the LLA, GCA, HRLA and CLA;
  • public interest hearings to determine if issuance of a liquor licence or changes to liquor licensed premises is in the public interest; and
  • conducting appeals of orders of monetary penalty assessed by the Registrar.

The following settlements were reached without a LAT hearing:

TABLE 20 – Alcohol-Related Settlements without a Hearing

 

2018–19

2019–20

Number of Settlements agreed to without a hearing

(NOPs and OMPs)

36

98
 

*These settlements are negotiated by the AGCO’s Legal Services Division, based on instructions from the Registrar.

TABLE 21 – Alcohol-Related Public Meeting Conference Calls

If the AGCO receives a written objection to the issuance of a liquor sales licence, a decision is made to either set up a public meeting at the AGCO or issue an NOP to review the licence application, which can be appealed to the LAT. A public meeting is an alternative dispute resolution process and is an informal meeting between the liquor licence applicant, the objectors, and a Deputy Registrar of the AGCO. This meeting may be arranged as a telephone conference call.

 

2018–19

2019–20

Number of Public Meeting Conference Calls

17

15
 

TABLE 22 – Gaming-Related Settlements without a Hearing

 

2018–19

2019–20

Number of Settlements agreed to without a hearing

(Notices of Proposed Order and Orders of Monetary Penalty)

9

5
 

*These settlements are negotiated by the AGCO’s Legal Services Division, based on instructions from the Registrar.