AGCO chair Lalit Aggarwal steps down
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has appointed Heidi Reinhart as chair on an interim basis
Canada.- The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has announced the departure of its chairman Lalit Aggarwal after four years. He will be replaced by Heidi Reinhart on an interim basis. Reinhart joined AGCO’s board in October 2020 and took on the role of vice chair in September 2021.
Aggarwal leaves the regulator to focus on business affairs and spend more time with his family. He guided AGCO through the Covid-19 pandemic and the launch of iGaming Ontario, responsible for regulating the province’s new online gambling market. Ontario’s online gambling market opened on April 4 with both casino games and sports betting.
The AGCO said in a statement: “During his tenure as board chair, Lalit oversaw the development and implementation of an Internet gambling conduct and management structure, as well as the regulatory framework to support Canada’s first open and competitive internet gaming market. The AGCO extends its sincere gratitude to Lalit for his years of strong and principled leadership and wishes him the very best in all of his endeavours.”
Last month, AGCO was awarded the North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA) Excellence in Gaming Regulation Award. The Canadian regulator won the award for its work developing and implementing the regulatory framework for Ontario’s online gaming market, which launched in April 2022.
Ontario igaming market contributes US$1.2bn in first year
The Ontario igaming market provided C$1.5bn (US$1.2bn) in positive economic contributions to the province in its first year of operations, according to research compiled by Deloitte in June. The report, released by iGaming Ontario on the first full day of the Canadian Gaming Summit, noted that the industry had created 12,000 new jobs in the province, generating C$900m in benefits via salary payments.
The report also outlined that many of the positions created in Ontario were well-paying jobs, with average wages for workers in the gaming sector at C$103,000. That’s around C$30,000 more than the average Ontarian wage.
