Lottery Licences

Lottery licences allow eligible charitable and religious organizations to hold lottery events, like bingos, raffles, break open tickets and bazaars, to raise funds for their community work.

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) sets the rules for lottery licensing in Ontario. The City of St. Thomas issues licences for certain types of events and can add its own terms and conditions, as long as they do not conflict with provincial rules. Licensed organizations must run their events according to their licence terms and complete all required reporting.

What we can licence

Charitable gaming lottery licences are issued by the AGCO and by municipalities in Ontario.

Find out which licensing authority issues the licence you want

Who is eligible

We can only issue lottery licences to charitable or religious organizations. Your organization must have a clear charitable or religious mandate and must have existed for at least 1 year. Charitable purposes include:

• relieving poverty
• advancing education
• advancing religion
• other purposes that benefit the community

Examples of eligible organizations:

• churches and their affiliated groups
• service clubs, like Kiwanis, Kinsmen, Lions, Knights of Columbus and Optimist
• schools and school organizations, like sports teams and bands. We license only 1 group per school
• museums and galleries, excluding private facilities
• health and special needs organizations, like Heart and Stroke, the Cancer Society and hospital foundations
• youth groups, like minor sports teams, choirs, Scouts and Guides

Organizations that are not eligible:

• unions or employee groups
• professional associations
• political parties or action groups
• government agencies or bodies
• business associations
• chambers of commerce
• social or private sport clubs
• adult recreational hobby or sporting teams

Steps to apply

Organizations based in St. Thomas and Elgin County, and holding events in St. Thomas, apply through the City.

1. First Time & Renewal applicants: Must complete the Charitable Gaming Permit Application Form. Kindly fill out the 4 page application and provide as much detail as possible.
2. Include supporting documents. Provide details on how you plan to use lottery funds, a copy of your letters of incorporation, constitution or by-laws, your current operating budget or last year's financial statement, and anything else that shows your charitable nature, like an annual report or charitable number.
3. Wait for our review. If your application is complete, we typically review eligibility in about 10 working days.
4. Submit your licence application. Submit to ashaw@stthomas.ca Once we approve your organization, apply for the type of licence you need or if applying to be on the Jackpot Time St Thomas assignment scheduling then your organization/club will be placed on a no priority sequence bingo waiting list. See below for timelines.

Jackpot Time: Once approved and on the waiting list it could take anywhere from 1.5 years to 2 years (estimation could possibly be more) before your organization/club can start getting assignments.

Bingo: we usually issue your license within 15 working days.

Raffle or bazaar: we usually issue your licence within 15 working days.

Break open tickets: we usually issue your licence within 15 working days. You are responsible for finding a retail location to sell your tickets. Before we issue your licence, you must give us a copy of the retailer's current AGCO Certificate of Registration under the Gaming Control Act.

Fees

Please submit your fee with your application

For up-to-date fees, refer to AGCO

Reporting

After your event, you must submit a lottery report with your gross receipts, ticket sales and other required details. 

See the Lottery Reporting Requirement Memo for more information

Forms

Licence applications

• Raffle Lottery Application
• Blanket Raffle Lottery Application
• Break Open Tickets Application
• Bingo Application
• First Time Application Package

Reports

• Raffle Lottery Report
• Blanket Raffle Report
• Break Open Ticket Report