Lottery Licensing
Lottery licenses are required for any game of chance where you are charging a fee for a chance to win a prize. This includes 50/50 draws, raffles (penny auctions, cake raffles, etc), bingos and break open ticket sales. Lottery licenses are issued through municipalities, but are governed by the AGCO. There are strict rules to follow when conducting games of chance; make sure you know the rules, and are applying for the correct license, before conducting any lottery. *Lotteries are a form of gambling and participants must be at least 18 years of age.*
Information on charitable gaming can be found on the AGCO website here.
Municipality websites have information on applying for lottery licenses (eg. London's website).
Some key points to remember:
To advertise having raffle or 50/50 at event, you must have lottery license numbers on advertisements
advertisements must also include statement that winners must be present during draw to claim prizes
Must use lottery trust account for all transactions
ALL expenses for running lottery must be paid for out of lottery trust account (by cheque)
Account MUST be 2 to sign, and all expenses paid for by cheque
Penny Auction Raffle
total prize amount max: $50,000
license fee is 3% of total prize amount
must list prizes and their retail value on application form
tickets are only sold on site during the event AND winner is drawn same day
tickets can be sold by cash transaction only
licensee exempt from printing complete raffle info on tickets & retaining unsold tickets for 1 year (section 4.1.1C lottery licensing policy manual)
Set ticket price
May purchase as many tickets as they wish & put as many tickets in each prize container they wish
Each prize has its own container for draw
Prize winners drawn at random
Individual must be present during draw to win prize
Section 4.1 in lottery licensing policy manual
Raffle License
Used for 50/50 draw
Must state how many tickets will be available for sale
Tickets must be consecutively numbered, numbers listed on application
Must state ticket price on application
Fee is 3% of total potential prize amount - (# tickets available x price) / 2
Individual must be present during draw to win prize
*check municipality and AGCO info to ensure info is up-to-date*
lottery license policy manual AGCO.pdf