Online gambling profit forecast down in Ontario

The government overestimated the revenue forecasts that they had announced last year.

Canada.- The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) confirmed that the modernisation program would boost the annual revenue by approximately US$677 million by 2021-2022, a number 30 percent smaller than the US$960 million projected in 2012 for 2017-2018. This is part of a regulation plan to expand the service across Ontario.

During fiscal 2015-2016, the OLG contributed US$381 million less than the forecast they made in 2012 when they first announced the modernisation plan. Back in September 2016, the lottery and gaming corporation discarded the plans to privatise the management of its lottery operations. Ontario’s auditor general questioned OLG’s decisions and its optimism when it comes to growth projections.

The official also criticised Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s projections for its online gambling services: the government-run monopoly had predicted that they would generate an annual profit of US$76 million, but they only reported US$11.4 million in 2015-2016. Whilst OLG estimates that they will elevate that number to US$19 million by launching a mobile casino app in March, the auditor general suggested that the figure could be “overstated.”