Federal Government announces proposal to allow charities to sell lottery tickets online

March 27, 2014 | By: Kate Robertson 
Yesterday the Minister of State (Finance) Kevin Sorenson and National Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay announced that in order to reduce administrative costs associated with charitable lotteries and to allow charities to modernize their lottery systems, there is a proposal in Economic Action Plan 2014 which will amend the Criminal Code to allow charities to sell their lottery tickets online. The current system forces registered charities that conduct lotteries as part of fundraising to process all sales manually and send tickets by mail rather than electronically. The full announcement is below:

"Harper Government Supports Charities to Create Stronger Communities
Charities to be allowed to conduct lotteries using modern technology
March 26, 2014 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Finance

Minister of State (Finance) Kevin Sorenson and National Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay today highlighted the Government's investment in stronger communities through support for the charitable sector. In order to reduce administrative costs associated with charitable lotteries and allow charities to modernize their lottery systems, Economic Action Plan 2014 proposes to amend the Criminal Code to allow charities to sell their lottery tickets online.

Each year, charities in Canada raise hundreds of millions of dollars to support worthy causes through lottery sales. However, outdated legislation forces registered charities across Canada that conduct lotteries as part of their fundraising to process and activate all sales manually, and then send customers their tickets by mail rather than electronically. The use of new technologies will allow charities to use modern e-commerce methods for the purchasing, processing and issuing of lottery tickets and issuing of receipts to donors.

Prominent Canadian charities, including the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Foundation and SickKids Foundation, report that allowing the use of new technologies could save millions of dollars each year in administrative costs for all Canadian charities that run lotteries. For example, the Heart and Stroke Foundation has identified significant savings in annual administrative costs related to the use of computers in its lottery alone. Charities will be able to use these savings to support their important work.
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