Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
{{Short description|Canadian provincial regulatory agency}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=May 2025}}
{{Independent sources|date=May 2025}}
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is a Crown agency that reports to the Ministry of the Attorney General in the Government of Ontario. The AGCO is responsible for regulating the liquor, gaming, cannabis and horse racing sectors in accordance with the principles of honesty and integrity, and in the public interest.
History
The Ontario Racing Commission was established in 1950 to oversee horse racing and on and off-track betting in Ontario. It was merged into the AGCO in 1998.{{Cite web | url=https://www.agco.ca/regulation-horse-racing-ontario | title=The Regulation of Horse Racing in Ontario | Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario }}
The AGCO was established on February 23, 1998, by the Government of Ontario under the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection Act of 1996.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/96a26|title=Law Document English View|date=2014-07-24|website=Ontario.ca|access-date=2016-05-30}} This Act transferred responsibility for the Liquor Licence Act and the Gaming Control Act to the AGCO. As a result of the establishment of the AGCO, the Government of Ontario passed complementary legislation to extinguish the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario, the Racing Commission of Ontario, and the Gaming Control Commission.{{Cite web|url=http://cgao.ca/agco.php|title=Commercial Gaming Association of Ontario}}
On April 1, 2016, the AGCO assumed responsibility for regulating horse racing under the Horse Racing Licence Act, 2015.
On October 17, 2018 the AGCO assumed responsibility for regulating private cannabis retail stores under the Cannabis Licence Act, 2018.{{Cite web |title=Ontario Newsroom |url=https://news.ontario.ca/en/statement/50214/statement-from-the-finance-minister-on-the-passage-of-the-cannabis-statute-law-amendment-act-2018 |access-date=2022-05-15 |website=news.ontario.ca}}
On April 4 2022, the AGCO updated restrictions on gambling promotions through which the iGaming companies draw newbies. Since that time lucrative bonus codes, signup deposits and free spins will be available for the gamers from Ontario only directly on the websites of the casinos and betting platforms.{{citation | language = English | title = AGCO Updates Registrar's Standards for Land-based Gaming to Strengthen Player Protections in Ontario | author = AGCO | date = April 2022 | url = https://www.agco.ca/blog/lottery-and-gaming/apr-2022/agco-updates-registrars-standards-land-based-gaming-strengthen|accessdate=25 April 2022}}
Responsibilities
The responsibilities of the AGCO include the administration of the:
- Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019
- Gaming Control Act, 1992
- Horse Racing Licence Act, 2015
- Cannabis Licence Act, 2018 (Ontario)
The AGCO also administers sections of the:
- Charity Lottery Licensing Order-in-Council 1413/08
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.agco.ca/ Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario website]
{{ONGovDept}}
{{Canada alcohol}}
{{Canada cannabis agencies}}
Category:Canadian provincial alcohol departments and agencies
Category:Ontario government departments and agencies
Category:Canadian provincial cannabis departments and agencies