During the COVID-19 pandemic, the AGCO put in place a number of temporary measures to enhance flexibility and support organizations licensed to conduct charitable lotteries in Ontario.
This bulletin provides updates on the temporary COVID-19 measures for licensed charitable organizations during the pandemic. These temporary measures helped to support charities while public health measures were in place. With charities returning to business as usual, these temporary accommodations are ending.
These updates will take effect as of today, 28 February, 2023.
What is changing?
Charities will go back to the usual application of the Terms and Conditions for lottery licences given that public health measures in place for the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted. Allowances permitted under this temporary measure, such as the ability for bona-fide members to virtually supervise raffle draws through a live stream, are no longer available. Charitable licensees may continue to seek licence amendments which will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the licensing authority as outlined in the Lottery Licensing Policy Manual (LLPM).
Additional flexibility in the use of lottery proceeds, such as the expansion of certain administrative expenses not permitted in the LLPM, is no longer available. Charities will go back to using lottery proceeds as they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following table summarizes the changes to temporary COVID-19 measures as described above.
| Temporary COVID-19 Measure for Charitable Organizations | Status |
|---|---|
Additional flexibility in Terms and Conditions
| Ending: Charities must follow the Terms and Conditions attached to lottery licences. |
Additional Flexibility on Use of Lottery Proceeds
| Ending: Charities must follow the requirements on the use of charitable proceeds. |
Relevant Resources
Other recent updates to temporary COVID-19 measures and related bulletins for the charitable gaming sector can be found by clicking the links below:
- Information Bulletin: Updates to the Break Open Ticket (BOT) Sector: Updated Terms and Conditions, and New Measures for Retail Sales
- Information Bulletin: Increase to Percentage of Lottery Proceeds that Service Clubs Can Use for Operating Costs
- Information Bulletin: Updates to the Temporary COVID-19 policies for Bingo Revenue Model Halls
Contact the AGCO for More Information
Charitable gaming-related inquiries can be sent directly to the AGCO’s Eligibility Officers at lottery.licensing@agco.ca. AGCO Customer Service can be reached at 1-800-522-2876, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.