Alberta government to ease restrictions on charitable gambling
Charities will be able to keep more profits from gambling events like raffles, bingo and casinos.
Canada.- The Alberta state government has announced that charities in the province will face fewer restrictions on the organisation of charitable gambling. Dale Nally, the minister of Service Alberta and red tape reduction, said 60 per cent of regulations on charitable gaming and fund usage had been removed.
From April 1, charities will be able to keep up to $50,000 in profits from gambling events without having to seek approval from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC). The limit on the amount they can use for facility renovations and leasehold improvements has been raised from $50,000 to $100,000, and organisations will also be able to use up to $100,000 of gaming proceeds for community events.
Meanwhile, the limit for administrative expense allowances has been raised from 20 to 30 per cent, and travel-related approval requirements have been removed.
Nally said: “The updates essentially shift the focus of AGLC policy to the types of activities and programming a charity can spend its gaming revenue on, rather than the type of organisation that’s doing the spending.”
The AGLC welcomed the changes. CEO Kandice Machado said 23,000 charities in Alberta ran raffles, pull tickets, bingo or casino events in the 2023-24 financial year, raising over $409m through charitable gaming. First Nations-hosted events contributed $79m.
Alberta remains the only Canadian province that licenses gambling events that support charitable organisations. Nally said the government was open to discussions about modifying more rules in the future.
