State-owned Canadian lottery increases revenue

Loto-Québec reported a record number of lottery prize payouts in the fiscal 2017.

Canada.- The Québec government founded lottery, Loto-Québec, has reported a 2.1 percent increase in revenues for fiscal 2017. The gambling company also reported a record number of lottery prize payouts during the past few months.

The authorities from the lottery said that 2016-2017 revenues rise to US$2.7 billion, a 2.1 percent rise from the previous year, whilst total prizes totaled US$756 million. The four casinos in charge of the group also collected sales of US$633 million, 4 percent more than the previous period, as Totally Gaming said. President and CEO of Loto-Québec, Lynne Roiter, said: “We have successfully continued our renewal strategy over the past year, which is based on three strategic directions focused on entertainment, efficiency and responsible commercialisation.”

Earlier this year, the organisation that also supervises the video lottery terminals (VLTs), announced that machines from bars will also be removed from bars. The measure is part of a plan to restructure their distribution and reduce the machines in operation. Carlos Leitao, Finance Minister and responsible for Loto-Québec, said: “Our government is determined to have responsible gaming on offer, fighting against compulsive gambling and preventing the outbreak of sites used for illegal gambling.” According to the Minister, some of the machines will be removed from areas where they already have too many VLTs, such as low-income neighborhoods. There are currently 12.000 machines in approximately 2000 facilities in Quebec, and the plan establishes that by 2019 there would be less than 10.000 VLTs in operation.