Section 5: Strategic Directions and Implementation Plan

The AGCO’s Strategic Plan outlines the vision and strategic goals for the organization. The AGCO’s vision of being a world-class regulator that is innovative, proactive, inclusive, and socially responsible will be achieved through its three strategic goals – Modern Regulator, Service Excellence, and People-First. Each strategic goal is associated with several key commitments, as outlined below.

The AGCO Strategic Plan was introduced in 2019 and will be refreshed in 2024. As the AGCO is entering year three of the five-year plan, management is in the process of refreshing our key organizational commitments to help guide our work through the conclusion of the Strategic Plan. The AGCO’s Corporate Plan supports the government’s priorities, including those identified in the Attorney General’s mandate letter.

In addition, the AGCO’s Corporate Plan, which captures the AGCO’s major initiatives and supports its expanded mandate by ensuring that initiatives are prioritized based on alignment with its mandate and resource capacity. As previously mentioned, AGCO’s primary focus for the following years will be continuous improvement with a digital lens, business optimization, and strengthening its financial framework. The Corporate Plan is reviewed by the AGCO’s leadership team on an annual basis to ensure priorities remain accurate and resourced effectively. The AGCO continues to develop its final Corporate Plan for Board approval in March 2022.

Gaming remains a focus as the AGCO moves to implement a new igaming regulatory framework that aims to achieve the Government of Ontario’s objectives of providing consumer choice, ensuring consumer protection, supporting the growth of the legal market, generating provincial revenues, and reducing red tape. As such, igaming work is expected to transition from a project into regular business for 2022. With the legalization of single-event sports betting, the AGCO also now has an important role to play in regulating an enhanced menu of sport and event betting offerings within the new competitive igaming market, as well as in more traditional gaming channels, such as casinos or lottery products. For 2022-23 the AGCO will be rationalizing the Registrar’s Standards for Gaming with the objective of aligning them across the land-based, lottery, and igaming channels.

The AGCO will continue to support the regulatory model through the licensing and registration process for operators and suppliers interested in participating in Ontario’s regulated igaming market. The AGCO will also continue to employ the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming that are fundamental to the AGCO’s igaming regulatory framework and standards-based approach to regulation and will come into force when the regulated igaming market is launched in Ontario. In addition, the AGCO will monitor compliance within the new open competitive igaming market, ensuring player protection, reinforcing responsible gaming measures, and supporting appropriate controls to minimize lawful activity and money laundering. 

Liquor Modernization remains a key priority. The regulations required to modernize the new liquor framework under the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019 (LLCA) came into effect in Fall 2021. The AGCO now moves into a phase where we are implementing this modernized and flexible approach to regulating the sale, service, and delivery of liquor. Working closely with the government on these changes, this modernization aligns with priorities set out in the mandate letter.

Primary amongst these changes will be facilitating the transition to a new flexible licence structure and the Interim Registrar’s Standards and Requirements for Liquor. The AGCO will also orient stakeholders to new permissible activities and changes that reduce red tape and burden, such as new retail sales opportunities for manufacturers at industry events. In addition, the AGCO’s focus will remain on facilitating better monitoring and compliance and adopting industry best practices to enhance social responsibility measures. While the implementation of the new liquor framework continues, the AGCO will work closely with industry partners on the development of the Registrar’s Standards for Liquor to replace the Interim Standards and Requirements for Liquor.

The Auditor General Report is a key corporate priority, and the AGCO will continue to implement an agency-wide action plan to respond to the Auditor General of Ontario’s 2020 Value For Money Audit Report. In line with this, the AGCO will continue to conduct reviews and develop action plans to improve the AGCO’s compliance and inspection activities, regulatory processes, public transparency, and cost-recovery. The AGCO will also continue reporting, including financial, to the relevant oversight bodies.

The AGCO is committed to continuing to focus on Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility for the fiscal year 2022-2023 and beyond. To date, the AGCO has crafted a DI&A vision that has a two-pronged approach of building a culture of inclusion as an employer, and as a service provider. The AGCO has engaged an external vendor, KPMG, to conduct an organizational assessment, and is committed to the implementation of the strategy. The AGCO’s current DI&A strategy states the following goals: having a workforce reflective of Ontario’s demographic diversity, building an inclusive workplace culture, free of discrimination and harassment, and committing to delivering services in an accessible, culturally aware, relevant, and responsive way.

This strategy and accompanying future work include integrating DI&A programs and measurable actions, facilitating the AGCO’s progression in the DI&A maturity continuum, and making meaningful partnerships with employee groups that enhance recruitment outreach which is reflective of Ontario’s diversity. The agency will also embed cultural awareness and inclusion in an accessible, relevant, sustainable, and responsive way.

Implementation Plan

The AGCO’s corporate planning process is an annual process, and it aligns the agency’s major initiatives to the three strategic goals across all levels of the organization. This planning process tracks and reports on the progress of ongoing initiatives annually while also informing the consideration of new initiatives.

The AGCO’s Corporate Plan captures direction from the Minister’s mandate letter, major initiatives from across the organization, including key commitments and deliverables. The status of Corporate Plan initiatives are updated quarterly and regularly reported to the AGCO Board.