As of June 1, the new Crown Corporation is mandated to oversee all gaming-related operations, with a view to executing more integrated and effectively coordinated strategies.
Though the direct effects of this change might not be immediately discernible to players involved with Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan’s (LGS), the province’s Minister of Parks, Culture, and Sport, Laura Ross, maintains that LGS will potentially bring about significant improvements in the industry.
Ross stated that the move to merge Lotteries and Gaming was an outcome of the burgeoning online gaming industry, thereby necessitating the need for robust enhancement and betterment of gaming regulations and the overall gambling landscape in Saskatchewan.
Observing Gaming Policies & Management: The Role of The New Crown Corporation
With the recent changes, Lotteries will cease to be under the purview of the Ministry of Parks, Culture, and Sport. Orders in Council formally ushered the Crown into existence starting June 1, 2023. Ross defines the function of the nascent commercial corporation as being “responsible for managing and implementing gaming policy within the province”.
Henceforth, Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation will not serve as a designated subsidiary of Crown Corporation. Concurrently, LGS will come under the umbrella of Crown Corporation as a designated subsidiary.
With immediate effect, Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation will give way to Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan, while fully adhering to all the securities and their respective categories in alignment with the respective Order. Furthermore, SaskGaming will transition into a fully owned subsidiary of Lotteries and Gaming of Saskatchewan.
PlayNow: The Sole Legal Online Betting Platform in Saskatchewan
The Minister underscored that the British Columbia Lottery Corporation’s (BCLC) PlayNow stands as the only legally operating online betting service in the province. She further indicated that the remaining betting services and sportsbooks currently represent a regulatory “gray” area.
Ross iterated the imperative to encourage more citizens to use the PlayNow website, dubbed as “the sole legal site” in Saskatchewan since the official inception of gambling in Canada. In January, the BCLC declared its plans to provide an additional push to PlayNow.com via OpenBet in the same province.
In March, when the new legislation ushering in the new Crown was announced, responsible Minister for all major Crowns, Don Morgan, stated that the LGS would equip them to keep pace with the rapidly transforming gaming landscape.
Morgan further noted that they intend to maintain the unique aspect of hosting a wide array of operators in the area, with entities like SaskGaming, Sask.Lotteries, and SIGA mentioned by the Minister.
The newly established LGS, headquartered in Regina, has been allocated a maximum debt limit capped at $130 million.
