Lottery Licensing

Lottery Group Eligibility

Organizations must submit an eligibility package and application to the City of Orillia and receive approval before applying for a lottery licence. Determinations of eligibility will depend on the specific organization and its proposed use of proceeds.

All relevant documentation will be reviewed to determine eligibility for lottery licences. These decisions are based on what is considered charitable in law, including the Criminal Code of Canada, previous court decisions, Order in Council 1413/08 as amended, and the policies issued by the Registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.  

Eligibility reviews for new groups take approximately two weeks. Additional information may be requested. Please provide all necessary material in a timely manner. Annual eligibility updates of changed or amended documents, programs, or similar material are required by each active group once they are deemed eligible to conduct lotteries.

Ineligible Organizations for Lottery Licences

An organization is ineligible for a lottery licence if:

• it is established as a profit-making entity;
• it does not have a charitable object or purpose;
• it promotes private benefits to a restricted class of members;
• it is established solely for the purpose of adult recreation;
• it is established for the purpose of tourism or other activities that are purely economic in nature; or
• it is a sub-group, “partner” or auxiliary of an eligible organization that is already licensed.

Organizations ineligible for lottery licensing include:

The following types of organizations are not considered charitable by the Province of Ontario for lottery licensing purposes: 

• social clubs, adult hobby groups and adult sports teams
• professional associations, unions and employee groups
• elected representative groups, including municipal, regional, provincial and federal governments
• government ministries, agents or bodies
• political lobby groups and political parties
• groups promoting political doctrine
• groups attempting to bring about or oppose change in the law or government policy
• municipal councils, municipal corporations and their administrative departments
• organizations established solely for the purposes of fundraising private sports clubs, such as golf or curling clubs

Use of Lottery Proceeds

Once a group is deemed eligible for a licence, the use of lottery proceeds listed on the licence application is reviewed. A licensing official will review the organization’s programs and services, their mandate, the type of organization they are, and the structure of the organization.

Eligible uses of proceeds include:

• Charitable and advance the charitable purposes or objects of the organization
• Used for the direct delivery of the charitable purposes or objects 
• Directed toward specific segments of the Ontario community or residents of Ontario with a common need

Financial requirements:

All licensees must hold lottery proceeds in designated lottery trust accounts for the purposes listed in the lottery licence application and as approved by the licensing authority. The licensing authority may limit the amount that may be held in the trust account. Lottery proceeds must be used for the purposes approved by the licensing authority and cannot be accumulated for other purposes or over a period of time not approved by the licensing authority.

Raffle

A raffle is a lottery scheme where tickets are sold for a chance to win a prize at a draw. The different types of raffles are usually identified by how the winner is determined. Raffle prizes may consist of merchandise or cash, or a combination of the two. The value of the prizes to be awarded, including any taxes must be $50,000 or less in order for the City of Orillia to issue a licence.

Permitted raffle lottery events:

• Stub draw
• Elimination draw
• Calendar draw
• “Golf ball drop” raffle lottery
• Rubber duck race
• 50/50 draw (paper-based)
• Blanket raffle (issued by Municipality only)
• Meat spin/turkey roll
• “Name the raffle” lottery
• Bossy bingo/cow patty bingo
• Auction-style raffles
• Catch the Ace progressive raffle licence (non-electronic)

A raffle lottery application must be completed by two members of your organization and returned to the City of Orillia for review and approval.

Please refer to the raffle requirements, 50/50 draw requirements or blanket raffle requirements prior to submitting your application. 

For additional information on Raffle Ticket Lottery Licences, review AGCO’s terms and conditions for raffle licences. 

Reports are due within 30 days of the lottery event. An organization’s future applications may be denied if reports are not received after 60 days. The following documents are required in your report:

• All bank statements showing all revenue and expenditures from the last report filed with this office until completion of the lottery event for which the report is being submitted
• All receipts for all expenditures for the lottery event, including a copy of any disbursement cheques from the lottery trust account
• Names and addresses of all winners
• Completed AGCO raffle lottery report

Break-Open Ticket (Nevada Tickets)

Break-open tickets are instant win lottery tickets.  A break-open ticket is a device made of cardboard with perforated cover window tabs behind which are symbols revealed by tearing open the cover tab. The winning combination of symbols is specified on the back of the ticket. Break-open tickets are also known as "Nevada tickets" or "pull tabs".

A break-open ticket lottery application must be completed by two members of your organization and returned to the City of Orillia for review and approval.

Please refer to the break-open requirements prior to submitting your application. 

For additional information on Break-Open Ticket Lottery Licences,  review AGCO’s terms and conditions for break-open ticket lottery licences. 

Licence Extensions 

Groups may request extensions on their break-open ticket licence if required. This must be done in writing before your current licence expires. Request will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

The fee to extend a break-open ticket licence is $20.00.  This will extend the break-open ticket licence for 3 months.  

Adding Tickets to an Existing Licence

Groups may request to add additional tickets on their break-open ticket licence if required. This must be done by submitting a break-open ticket lottery application  before your current licence expires. Request will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

The time period for a break-open ticket licence cannot exceed five (5) years, including any amendments and/or extensions.

Reports are due within 30 days of the lottery event.  An organization’s future applications may be denied if reports are not received after 60 days. The following documents are required in your report:

• All bank statements showing all revenue and expenditures from the last report filed with this office until completion of the lottery event for which the report is being submitted
• All receipts for all expenditures for the lottery event, including a copy of any disbursement cheques from the lottery trust account
• Completed AGCO Break-open report 

Bingo

Bingo events are lottery schemes where players purchase bingo paper and win prizes by being the first to complete a specified arrangement or patterns of numbers on the bingo paper from numbers selected at random.  Regular bingo events have prize boards of up to $5,500, and Special (Monster) bingo events have prize boards over $5,500. 

To be considered as a possible eligible lottery group you must be eligible to conduct lotteries. 

To apply for a Bingo licence an organization must first submit an eligibility package and application to the City of Orillia and receive approval before applying for a bingo lottery licence with the Bingo Hall. 

Organizations applying to run a bingo event at a Bingo Hall must contact the Bingo Hall administrator for an application and to review the requirements:

Bingo Hall location:  Geneva Bingo Hall: 215 Mississaga Street East

Contacts:   

Denise McLay: dmclay1@hotmail.com  -  Hall Charity Administrator  

Rick Purcell: rpurcell@on.aibn.com - Hall Manager

Laurie Bax: lbax@mclaw.ca - Hall Manager 

Reports are due within 30 days of the lottery event.  An organization’s future applications may be denied if reports are not received in a timely manner. The following documents are required in your report:

• All bank statements showing all revenue and expenditures from the last report filed with this office until completion of the lottery event for which the report is being submitted
• All receipts for all expenditures for the lottery event, including a copy of any disbursement cheques from the lottery trust account
• Completed AGCO bingo report

For additional information on bingo Lottery Licences,  review AGCO’s terms and conditions for bingo licences. 

Bazaar Lotteries

A bazaar is a sale of goods held to raise money for a charity.  Municipalities may issue licences to allow eligible organizations to conduct and manage lottery events in conjunction with a bazaar, provided the lottery events are ancillary to the bazaar itself.

A bazaar lottery application must be completed by two members of your organization and returned to the City of Orillia for review and approval. 

A bazaar is an event where any combination of the following lotteries may be conducted: 

a) Raffle and Penny Auction Raffles not exceeding $500.00 in prizes;

b) Bingo not exceeding $500.00 in prizes; and

c) Maximum of 3 Wheels of Fortune with a maximum $2.00 bet.

a) Raffles and Penny Auction Raffles

Raffles

Under a bazaar licence, a licensee may conduct a raffle lottery with a maximum of $50,000 in prizes. The licensee must sell tickets by cash transactions only. The tickets must be consecutively numbered. All prizes must be awarded as outlined and approved on the licence application.  

For raffles where tickets are sold at a single premise and tickets are drawn on the same day as they are sold, the licensee is exempt from general raffle policies requiring a licensee to print complete raffle information on the ticket and retain unsold tickets for one year.

Penny Auction Raffles

For a set price, participants purchase a certain number of tickets that are usually detachable from the stub portion (retained by the purchaser). Participants may enter as many tickets as they possess on any item (prize) they are interested in by depositing the tickets into a container assigned to that item (prize). The item (prize) is awarded to the person whose ticket is drawn, at random, from the container.

The raffle is limited to a maximum prize board of $50,000 and individuals must be present to win. A prize list is not required with the application.

b) Bingo

Under a bazaar licence, a licensee may conduct a bingo lottery with a maximum of $5,500 in prizes. The licensee may sell bingo cards for cash only. The bingo cards may be sold only on the day of the event.

The caller must announce the arrangement of winning numbers immediately before the game begins. All prizes must be awarded as outlined and approved on the licence application.

c) Wheels of Fortune

Under a bazaar licence, the licensee may conduct a maximum of three wheels of fortune, with maximum bets of two (2) dollars.

For the purposes of a bazaar licence, a wheel of fortune is a game where players wager chips, tokens or cash on the spin of a wheel in order to win a prize. Players set their wagers, then the wheel is spun. The wheel must complete at least three (3) full revolutions and come to a complete stop before prizes may be awarded. The prizes are based on the amount wagered and the rules for winning on that particular wheel of fortune.

For further information, please see also Section 6.1.1(B) Wheels of Fortune in the Lottery Licensing Policy Manual and Section 3.5 Wheels of Fortune in the Bazaar Licence Terms and Conditions.

Please refer to the Bazaar Requirements prior to submitting your application. 

For additional information on Bazaar Lottery Licences, review AGCO’s Terms and Conditions for Bazaar Licences. 

Reports are due within 30 days of the lottery event.  An organization’s future applications may be denied if reports are not received after 60 days. The following documents are required in your report:

• All bank statements showing all revenue and expenditures from the last report filed with this office until completion of the lottery event for which the report is being submitted
• All receipts for all expenditures for the lottery event, including a copy of any disbursement cheques from the lottery trust account
• Names and addresses of all winners
• Completed AGCO Bazaar lottery report