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ARTICLE · 14 JUNE 2018

Gambling 2018

Miller Thomson
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Danielle Bush authored the chapter on Canadian gambling law in the 2018 edition of International Comparative Guide to Gambling. This international resource covers common issues in gambling laws and regulations across 34 jurisdictions.

CanadaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment

1. Relevant Authorities and Legislation

1.1 Which entities regulate what type of gambling activity in your jurisdiction?

The overarching statute that governs gambling activity in Canada is the federal Criminal Code (the "Code"). Sections 201 through to and including section 206 make all types of gambling, betting and lotteries illegal throughout Canada, with very limited exemptions such as pari-mutuel betting on horse races (provided for in section 204). In 1985, the federal government agreed with the provinces that gambling would be provided exclusively by the provincial governments. The Code was amended to reflect this structure by amendments to section 207 which today permits all provincial and territorial governments to provide lottery schemes to their respective residents, to join forces with each other to provide lottery schemes in common to their collective residents, and to grant licences to charities to provide gambling activities for charitable purposes.

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