Charitable Gaming

“…it is lawful for a charitable or religious organization, pursuant to a licence issued by the Lieutenant Government in Council of a province or by such other person of authority in the province as may be specified…to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province if the proceeds from the lottery scheme are used for a charitable or religious object or purpose…” - Criminal Code (Canada)

Pursuant to The Gaming Control Act, Order-in-Council 524/1997 specifies the MGCC as an authority to issue licences to charitable or religious organizations to conduct lottery schemes, including bingo, breakopen tickets, raffles, Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, Calcutta auctions, Monte Carlos and sports draft activities.  These activities are popular pastimes and good fundraisers.  In 2007/08, gross charitable gaming sales revenues from these events were just over $66 million.  In addition to authorizing the lottery schemes and monitoring the conduct of these events, the MGCC also reviews financial and audit information to confirm the revenues are used for charitable or religious purposes in keeping with the Criminal Code (Canada).

There are many kinds of games and many ways of conducting them, and equally as many sets of terms and conditions and standards that apply to each game and its operation.  For example, all breakopen tickets must be developed, printed and distributed in accordance with MGCC’s technical integrity standards.  There are specific requirements for the design of raffle tickets, including matching tickets numbers to confirm authenticity and identification.  Bingo paper must be inventoried and securely stored.  And raffle draw procedures must be established and followed to ensure the prizes are awarded fairly and as intended.  MGCC has established specific terms and conditions for each type of licensed event. 

Because bingo is the most popular game, we have chosen to focus on the game integrity standards and tests that apply to its approval, operation and audit reporting.

Bingo – Under the I for Integrity

This year approximately 300 charitable bingo licence holders will conduct events in Manitoba with total gross revenues in the range of $45 million.  Each of the players at each of these events expects fair play, consistency and game integrity.  MGCC needs to ensure that all organizations consistently meet and maintain game integrity standards at every event. 

Each organization’s bingo licence includes terms and conditions which outline standards for the conduct and management of the bingo game.  Many of the terms and conditions for bingo establish requirements to ensure game integrity.  Here are several examples of game integrity based rules:

• MGCC has established basic rules of play for bingo that must be followed by all licence holders.
• MGCC reviews and approves specific rules of play, sometimes called “house rules” which are set by each organization. 
• In almost all cases, bingo paper must be purchased from the MLC to ensure accountability and auditability.  This permits tracking of bingo product purchase and sales for audit purposes.  A single source supplier model also ensures consistent product, including a serial number on each sheet of bingo paper sold. 
• All licence holders are urged to use the master control books for MLC bingo paper to compare the serial number on each winning bingo sheet with a master sheet.  This helps detect attempts at cheating and protects the licence holder and other players.   

 

At the conclusion of each event, the organization must also complete an event report, detailing sales, prizes and expenses.  This information must be compiled into a quarterly report along with financial records and submitted to the MGCC for review.  The MGCC has developed an audit risk model to help identify reporting inconsistencies, remedy problems, detect fraud and support any required investigations.  Please visit our Financial Reporting section for more information about our reporting and accountability requirements.

 

Standards for
Honesty and Integrity

Gaming/
Non-Gaming Equipment

Table Games

New Technologies

Electronic Gaming

Charitable Gaming