Criminal Code

Marginal note:Permitted lotteries

• 207 (1) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of this Part relating to gaming and betting, it is lawful

  • (a) for the government of a province, either alone or in conjunction with the government of another province, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province, or in that and the other province, in accordance with any law enacted by the legislature of that province;

  • (b) for a charitable or religious organization, pursuant to a licence issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council of a province or by such other person or authority in the province as may be specified by the Lieutenant Governor in Council thereof, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province if the proceeds from the lottery scheme are used for a charitable or religious object or purpose;

  • (c) for the board of a fair or of an exhibition, or an operator of a concession leased by that board, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme in a province where the Lieutenant Governor in Council of the province or such other person or authority in the province as may be specified by the Lieutenant Governor in Council thereof has

    • (i) designated that fair or exhibition as a fair or exhibition where a lottery scheme may be conducted and managed, and

    • (ii) issued a licence for the conduct and management of a lottery scheme to that board or operator;

  • (d) for any person, pursuant to a licence issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council of a province or by such other person or authority in the province as may be specified by the Lieutenant Governor in Council thereof, to conduct and manage a lottery scheme at a public place of amusement in that province if

    • (i) the amount or value of each prize awarded does not exceed five hundred dollars, and

    • (ii) the money or other valuable consideration paid to secure a chance to win a prize does not exceed two dollars;

  • (e) for the government of a province to agree with the government of another province that lots, cards or tickets in relation to a lottery scheme that is by any of paragraphs (a) to (d) authorized to be conducted and managed in that other province may be sold in the province;

  • (f) for any person, pursuant to a licence issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council of a province or such other person or authority in the province as may be designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council thereof, to conduct and manage in the province a lottery scheme that is authorized to be conducted and managed in one or more other provinces where the authority by which the lottery scheme was first authorized to be conducted and managed consents thereto;

  • (g) for any person, for the purpose of a lottery scheme that is lawful in a province under any of paragraphs (a) to (f), to do anything in the province, in accordance with the applicable law or licence, that is required for the conduct, management or operation of the lottery scheme or for the person to participate in the scheme; and

  • (h) for any person to make or print anywhere in Canada or to cause to be made or printed anywhere in Canada anything relating to gaming and betting that is to be used in a place where it is or would, if certain conditions provided by law are met, be lawful to use such a thing, or to send, transmit, mail, ship, deliver or allow to be sent, transmitted, mailed, shipped or delivered or to accept for carriage or transport or convey any such thing where the destination thereof is such a place.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions of licence

  (2) Subject to this Act, a licence issued by or under the authority of the Lieutenant Governor in Council of a province as described in paragraph (1)(b), (c), (d) or (f) may contain such terms and conditions relating to the conduct, management and operation of or participation in the lottery scheme to which the licence relates as the Lieutenant Governor in Council of that province, the person or authority in the province designated by the Lieutenant Governor in Council thereof or any law enacted by the legislature of that province may prescribe.

• Marginal note:Offence

  (3) Every one who, for the purposes of a lottery scheme, does anything that is not authorized by or pursuant to a provision of this section

  • (a) in the case of the conduct, management or operation of that lottery scheme,

    • (i) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or

    • (ii) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction; or

  • (b) in the case of participating in that lottery scheme, is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

• Marginal note:Definition of lottery scheme

  (4) In this section, lottery scheme means a game or any proposal, scheme, plan, means, device, contrivance or operation described in any of paragraphs 206(1)(a) to (g), whether or not it involves betting, pool selling or a pool system of betting other than

  • (a) three-card monte, punch board or coin table;

  • (b) bookmaking, pool selling or the making or recording of bets, including bets made through the agency of a pool or pari-mutuel system, on any race or fight, or on a single sport event or athletic contest; or

  • (c) for the purposes of paragraphs (1)(b) to (f), a game or proposal, scheme, plan, means, device, contrivance or operation described in any of paragraphs 206(1)(a) to (g) that is operated on or through a computer, video device, slot machine or a dice game.

• Marginal note:Definition of slot machine

  (4.01) In paragraph 4(c), slot machine means any automatic machine or slot machine, other than any automatic machine or slot machine that dispenses as prizes only one or more free games on that machine, that

  • (a) is used or intended to be used for any purpose other than selling merchandise or services; or

  • (b) is used or intended to be used for the purpose of selling merchandise or services if

    • (i) the result of one of any number of operations of the machine is a matter of chance or uncertainty to the operator,

    • (ii) as a result of a given number of successive operations by the operator, the machine produces different results, or

    • (iii) on any operation of the machine, it discharges or emits a slug or token.

• Marginal note:Exception — charitable or religious organization

  (4.1) The use of a computer for the sale of a ticket, selection of a winner or the distribution of a prize in a raffle, including a 50/50 draw, is excluded from paragraph (4)(c) in so far as the raffle is authorized under paragraph (1)(b) and the proceeds are used for a charitable or religious object or purpose.

• Marginal note:Exception re: pari-mutuel betting

  (5) For greater certainty, nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the making or recording of bets on horse-races through the agency of a pari-mutuel system other than in accordance with section 204.