1. Charitable Licensing in BC
How to Apply For and Manage a Community Gaming Licence
Victoria Loyer – Licensing Supervisor
Hailey Galego – Licensing Analyst
2017 BC/Yukon Command Convention
Richmond, BC
June 2nd, 2017
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

2. Objectives for Today
By the end of the presentation, you will know more about:
The different classes of licenses
Which expenses are eligible when reporting
How gaming funds can be disbursed
What percentages can be used towards admin fees
The benefits of applying online
Status of Chase the Ace
How to get the assistance you need
Our end goal is to have everyone understand our processes so we can work together to avoid confusion and delays.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

3. Who makes up our Licensing Team?
Current Staffing:
4 Licensing Analysts – primarily review and process Class A & C applications
8 Licensing Agents – primarily review and process Class B & D applications
Licensing Supervisor
Director
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

4. Making It Work
Organizations or groups may apply for licensing when their scheme or group is not eligible or does not fit within our current guidelines.   Occasionally organizations that do not meet requirements for eligibility may require a change to their structure or bylaws in order to establish eligibility for licensing.   Licensing team meets 3 times weekly to discuss and debate possible outcomes and solutions of complex applications and events as they arise.
The team is dedicated to help organizations that are supporting their communities and benefiting everyone. We will work with organizations when there are eligibility issues with their applications or what they are suggesting just doesn’t work.
- we suggest alternatives for them so they can make necessary changes to their application. We also place conditions on their license in order to make the event compliant or provide advice on how to change what they are doing to make it eligible for licensing.
- we try to suggest alternative fundraising such as ‘silent auction’ which requires no license or recommend a change to their use of proceeds or prize structure that fits within their intended purposes.
- we provide continuous technical support to clients with limited computer knowledge or experiencing technical difficulties and assist them in step by step remote instruction for completion of online applications.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

5. What requires a licence?
Generally, for an activity to be considered gaming the following three elements must be present:
“Consideration” – usually means players must pay or exchange something of value to be eligible to participate
“Prize” – includes money or anything of value
“Chance” meaning the outcome is not pre-determined or determined solely by skill
Silent auctions do not require a licence.
The event does not determine the Class of License, the amount of money expected to be made, the prize value and/or price per ticket is what determines which license is needed.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

6. Class “A” Licenses
Class A licenses fall under one of three categories:
Minor (up to $100,000)
Major (up to $250,000)
Registered (more than $250,000)
Under a Class A gaming event licence, eligible groups and organizations are limited to:
No limit in gross revenue in a 12 month period;
No limit on gross revenue per licence;
Individual prize values do not have a limit, but prize security must be provided for any prize with a fair market value of $10,000 or over; and
No limit on price per ticket.
Completed applications must be received at a minimum of 10 weeks prior to the event start date.
To be considered eligibile, an organization must be a non-profit organization or primarily charitable, delivers programs or services that provide direct community benefit to name a few. I will not be going through the entire list, otherwise that could take a good part of this session. What would make an organization NOT eligible – a for-profit business, an agency of federal, provincial or municipal government, a hospital or an educational institution.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

7. Class “B” Licenses
Under a Class B gaming event licence, eligible groups and organizations are limited to:
No limit in gross revenue in a 12 month period;
Up to $20,000 gross revenue per licence;
Individual prize values do not have a limit, but prize security must be provided for any prize with a fair market value of $10,000 or over; and
No limit on price per ticket.
Currently, we are requesting 10 business days processing time for a completed application.
No limit to the number of Class B licence you are able to apply for.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

8. Class “C” Licenses
Class C licenses are available to organizations that are part of the Registered Provincial Fairs only.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

9. Class “D” Licenses
Under a Class D gaming event licence, eligible groups and organizations are limited to:
Raising up to $10,000 in gross revenue in a calendar year;
Up to $5,000 gross revenue per licence;
Individual prize values not exceeding $500; and
A $2 maximum charge for each chance to win a prize.
Applications must be submitted online.
Currently, we are requesting 10 business days processing time for a completed application.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

10. Applying Online and the Benefits
Any class of application may be submitted online at:
The benefits of applying online:
Allows for a quicker and smoother process
The online application has additional fields, where a paper application misses out on required information
The online application will not let you move forward unless all the required fields have been completed
Support documents can be attached to the online application
Once you have submitted your application online, it is received by the Branch immediately
Allows agents and analysts to assess the application sooner and allows more time to request additional documents if required

11. Disbursement of Funds
A Legion would be considered a Community Service Organization or a Service Club.
Service clubs:
Are responsible for monitoring how gaming proceeds are disbursed by the donation recipient and required to report to the branch any instance where funds were used inappropriately;
Must ensure a Major Capital Project is approved by the branch before gaming proceeds are donated towards the project.
May donate to an organization with which they are associated, as long as the recipient organization meets all eligibility criteria
May use gaming proceeds for their own programs where the branch has provided written approval for the program
Groups receiving donations must be considered an eligible organization
Note: It is best to contact the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, on a case-by-case basis, if you are unsure if your use of proceeds are eligible.
**Only approved for a MCP if the facility will be used to deliver to organizations programs directly to the community
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

12. Reporting Gaming Event Revenue Reports (GERR):
Gaming Event Revenue Report is a report that is required to be completed for each licence approved to your organization.
It is mandatory that you complete the GERR within 90 days of the expiry of each licence.
This form can be located on our website at:
Gaming Account Summary Reports (GASR):
The Gaming Account Summary Report is a report of the activity in your Gaming bank account within an organizations fiscal period.
It is mandatory that you complete the GASR within 90 days of the expiry of your fiscal year end.
This form can be located on our website at:
These reports can be submitted by regular mail, facsimile: or by to
GERR: must be completed per event licence
GASR: must be completed per fiscal year end
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

13. Reporting Expenses
Your group or organization may pay expenses directly related to the conduct and management of a licensed gaming event.
Expenses cannot exceed 25% of the actual gross revenue.
Prize costs are deducted from gross revenue, but are not considered an event expense.
Examples of permitted expenses are advertising, licence fee, printing, and volunteer out-of-pocket expenses related to the event.
Receipts must be kept for each expense as part of your gaming event records.
Expenses for an event may be prorated.
Directly related meaning, being used specifically to hold that gaming event.
Prorated expenses: (i.e. the gaming evening will being using the space for 5% of the time that evening, making 5% of the rental facility fee the eligible expense)
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

14. Understanding Administrative Fees
Service Clubs:
May retain up to 10% of the net proceeds from their licensed gaming activities.
Where the net licensed gaming proceeds are 25% or more of gross revenue, the service organization may retain 15% of the net proceeds; and
Cannot receive gaming proceeds from, or donate gaming proceeds to, another service club or community fundraising group.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

15. Chase the Ace
The Standard Procedures and Guidelines are currently being reviewed for Chase the Ace and are awaiting approval from the ADM in order to move forward with a pilot in the fall. Once executive approval on the guidelines has been obtained information will be shared with organizations.

16. Top Reasons for Delays or Denial
Applying for the wrong “raffle type” (i.e. 50/50, regular raffle, one day regular series)
Missing information (common with paper applications)
Restricted prizes (alcohol, live animals, restricted/prohibited weapons)
The use of proceeds not clearly explained or not eligible
Applied for the wrong class of licence
Paper applications, slow down the process as we now have to data enter the information into the system
Not compliant with submitting their Gaming Event Revenue Reports or Gaming Account Summary Reports
Supporting documents (i.e. Community Fundraising Group letters, prize security, eligibility documentation)
Applying under incorrect organization profile (multiple profiles)
A new organization that puts down “to permit us to run our programs”. If we don’t have information on the types of programs and how it benefits the community, we need to follow-up with the submitter to obtain more information.
Organizations are required to submit a GERR 90 days after their Gaming Event License has expired and if the organization is making more than $20,000/year, they are required to have a Gaming Account and submit a GASR within 90 days of their fiscal year end. GPEB needs to ensure the gaming funds are being used in accordance with provincial and federal laws, therefore unless we know where the money has gone, we can not continue to issue licenses to that group until they submit the required reports.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

17. How to Avoid a Delay
Review the guidelines for the specific licence, before applying.
Make certain the contact information provided is correct, providing daytime telephone numbers.
Submit the application as soon as possible, prizes must be in place at the time of applying.
Submit the required reports within the 90 day period.
If you are uncertain about anything, contact us.
Complete your application in full, correctly.
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation

18. Getting the Assistance You Need
From GPEB – Licensing
Our website – including online application resources, application forms, report examples, licensing guidelines, and etc.
By telephone: (250) or
Toll free at: 1 (800)
BC Association of Charitable Gaming
Will provide information on setting up a non-profit organization
Can assist with applying for licenses (or grants)
Assists with completing Gaming Event Revenue Reports and Gaming Account Summary Reports
Offers workshops online and in person

19. Any questions?
We have included the GPEB website address. All the information provided in this presentation, can be found on the website.
Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch Website:
Ministry of Finance - Employee Orientation