The Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal oversees the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation (OLG), a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario. OLG is responsible for province-wide lotteries and gaming facilities.

Improving quality of life

The function of the OLG is to improve the lives of Ontarians by generating revenue provincially, and economic and social benefits locally.

Since 1975, the OLG has generated more than $23 billion for the people of Ontario. Gaming proceeds support:

• amateur sport
• recreational and cultural activities
• communities
• local and provincial charities
• non-profit organizations through the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and
• provincial priority programs such as health care and education.

Ontario’s gaming industry also employs close to 20,000 people and supports job creation and small business growth in the tourism, hospitality and horse racing sectors in communities across the province.
The OLG is responsible for 27 gaming sites and the sale of lottery products at more than 10,700 retail locations.

Protecting the public trust

Ensuring the integrity of the province’s lottery system and safeguarding the trust consumers place in the OLG is crucial to the government of Ontario. With this in mind, OLG has dedicated itself to examining policies, procedures and security measures relating to the sale of its lottery products and the payment of lottery winnings to retailers and other lottery system “insiders”. This was accomplished through an internal review by the audit firm KPMG and through a report by the Ombudsman of Ontario released in early 2007.

The OLG is working hard to implement the recommendations made by the Ombudsman and KPMG. The goals are to:

• strengthen the integrity of the lottery system
• protect consumers
• ensure the reputation of honest retailers, and
• increase public confidence in the system.

Entertainment and social responsibility

The province’s gaming strategy focuses on providing a positive gaming experience to customers that maintains a balance between social responsibility, protecting jobs and public investments in the industry, and generating revenues for the people of Ontario.

Ontario has one of the best-funded problem gambling strategies in North America – in 2007/2008 the government committed $37 million for research, treatment programs, and prevention/public awareness campaigns.  The province, OLG and responsible gaming proponents work together to constantly assess the effect of these programs and develop programs to support responsible gaming. There is an ongoing process to train OLG retailers and employees on the socially responsible delivery of gaming services as well to raise awareness among Ontarians about how to get help for problem gambling if they need it.

Learn more about the OLG by visiting www.olg.ca.