Equitable Provincial Charitable Gaming Model

Subject Economic

Year 2026

Status Adopted - Active

Sponsor - Mover

St. Albert, City of

Sponsor - Seconder

Edson, Town of

Active Clauses

IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED THAT Alberta Municipalities advocate to the Government of Alberta and AGLC to implement mechanisms to improve the sustainability of charities, including but not limited to, a more equitable and transparent provincial Charitable Gaming Model, funding from online gaming, or funding from other AGLC-administered sources.

Whereas Clauses

WHEREAS charitable organizations provide a valuable service across Alberta and their sustainability is of utmost importance to Alberta society;

WHEREAS charitable organizations that experience financial instability may impact municipalities through increased requests for funding, or subsequent community reliance on municipalities to provide services that can no longer be sustainably delivered by charitable organizations;

WHEREAS Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) helps to ensure the sustainability of charitable organizations through revenue generation made possible by volunteer charitable casino events, known as Alberta’s Charitable Gaming Model[i];

WHEREAS Alberta’s Charitable Gaming Model was responsible for over $422.8 million in revenue raised by thousands of Alberta charitable organizations in 2024-25[ii];

WHEREAS previous reviews of Alberta’s Charitable Gaming Model conducted by the Government of Alberta and AGLC have articulated that an inequitable model for the disbursement of casino revenues to charities currently exists, and that the frequency of revenue generating opportunities varies greatly based on location;

WHEREAS the AGLC initiated a charitable gaming review in 2019-2021, and published a “What We Heard Report[iii]” Since, then no substantive action has been taken to address the issues identified in the review.

WHEREAS Since the latest review, the gaming landscape has evolved with the introduction of the province’s iGAming Strategy for online gaming[iv] and Play Alberta.

[i] https://aglc.ca/gaming/charitablegaming/albertas-charitable-gaming-model

[ii] Idlib.

[iii] https://aglc.ca/sites/aglc.ca/files/aglc_files/CGR-What_We_Heard.pdf

[iv] https://www.alberta.ca/albertas-igaming-strategy

Resolution Background

BACKGROUND:

Under Alberta’s current Charitable Gaming Model[i], adopted in 2003, charitable groups may be licensed by the AGLC to conduct charity casinos in coordination with licensed private casino facilities as a revenue generating opportunity. These revenues are critical for charitable organizations’ sustainability and ability to provide services to communities across Alberta.

There are 19 casino facilities[ii] located throughout Alberta, each of which belongs to a “casino region.” Charities are generally assigned to their nearest casino facility. While charities located within Edmonton and Calgary and charities that provide province-wide services are permitted to receive a license for a casino event in Edmonton or Calgary casino facilities.

In a 2010 MLA Advisory Report[iii] on “Eligible Organizations’ Access to and Distribution of Proceeds from Licensed Casino Events,” it was identified that inequities exist because:

There is a long waiting period to hold casino events across the province because there are more charitable organizations than there are possible casino events – waiting times vary from 16 months to 34.5 months depending on the region.
Amongst casino regions, charitable proceeds can vary among regions, from an average high of $77,486 to $18,011.

Despite this report, inequities continued to persist over the subsequent decade. From 2019 through to 2021, AGLC surveyed over 3,800 organizations and conducted targeted stakeholder engagement with 90 charitable organizations and casino representatives as part of their Charitable Gaming Review. Input consistently showed concern that the current charitable gaming model results in regional disparities in wait times for casino events and the amount of proceeds earned from those events, and that these disparities are exaggerated by higher costs for rural charities such as increased transportation costs. There were a wide variety of recommendations looking at what types of organizations should have access to casino revenue, how revenues should be distributed and how regional boundaries could be adjusted.

Since this report was published, neither AGLC nor the Government of Alberta have implemented policy changes to action any of the above-mentioned recommendations.

Furthermore, the landscape of gaming has changed since this report; in 2020, AGLC launched Play Alberta, a provincially-regulated online gaming platform. Play Alberta generated $37 million in revenue its first year, and has now grown to generate $270 million in revenue for 2025. This new revenue stream did not exist when AGLC conducted the Charitable Gaming Review referenced above and serves as an example that while the gaming industry has evolved and changed, Alberta’s Charitable Gaming Model has not.

The increased emphasis on this issue in recent years – reflected in two historic resolutions approved by Alberta Municipalities members (with 88% member support in 2018, and 92% member support in 2022)[iv] as well as resolutions approved by Rural Municipalities of Alberta[v] – creates a strong foundation for Alberta Municipalities to continue advocating on this issue to the Government of Alberta and AGLC with the support of a diverse range of municipalities.

The City of St. Albert hopes that this advocacy will advance the long-standing recommendations for a more equitable and transparent provincial Charitable Gaming Model, that improves access to revenues for charities throughout Alberta . Since last bringing forward this resolution in 2022, online gaming has grown significantly, and this may present alternative revenue sources to sustainably fund Alberta charitable organizations as well.

The following table outlines the wait times and revenues each casino-region received as of December 31, 2024.

Casino Region	2024 Wait Time for Key Events (Months)	2024 Annualized Return (product of wait times and proceeds)
Calgary	20	$49,281
Calgary-Rural	36	$21,494
Camrose	40	$ 5,760
Edmonton	22	$42,730
Fort McMurray	17	$20,852
Grande Prairie	28	$16,459
Lethbridge	33	$12,898
Medicine Hat	17	$12,967
Red Deer	34	$10,484
St. Albert	31	$ 7,379

[i] https://aglc.ca/gaming/charitablegaming/albertas-charitable-gaming-model

[ii] https://aglc.ca/about-us/publications/quick-facts

[iii] https://doczz.net/doc/1097736/proceeds-to-charities-from-licensed-casino-events

[iv] AB Munis Resolutions:

[v] RMA Resolutions:

Alberta Municipalities notes

ABmunis is preparing correspondence to the appropriate ministry.