The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has made several updates to its charitable lottery licensing policies in response to stakeholder requests.

Among the new measures is a provision to allow eligible charities to apply to offer subscriptions with automatic billing, as well as electronic raffles tickets that use a single number for multiple entries.

The AGCO said the updates further its commitment to encourage innovation and will reduce burden for the charitable gaming sector in 2025. The e-raffle subscription policies are meant to ensure safeguards for consumers and provide guidelines for Ontario charities that wish to operate such raffles.

To be eligible to offer the subscriptions, charities must provide clear, transparent billing policies. Subscriptions must be opt-in for players and not the default option for players to participate in the lottery scheme, and they must be notified in advance of automatic payment processing.

As of Jan. 8, all eligible charities can apply to the AGCO in order to begin offering services under the new updates. The AGCO also updated its lottery licensing policy manual and the minimum technical standards for electronic raffle systems.

Also, registered charities may use a technical solution feature called Single Number Multi-Chance to simplify the sale of multiple raffle entries to a player at a licensed raffle event. The number of times this single number is entered into the draw corresponds with the number of entries the player purchased.

The changes made in the BOT sector were said to provide flexibility and creative opportunities to the charitable gaming sector.