CANADA
legislation, and associated compliance obligations placed on contest operators, contests were often not open to Quebec residents, thereby excluding 24 percent of Canada’s population. Sweepstakes contests were addressed in the Quebec Act under the definition of “Publicity Contest”.
Quebec, it is unsurprising that contest providers chose to exclude Quebec residents rather than comply. Further, for any contests where the value of prizes offered specifically to Quebec residents is over CA$5,000, or the total value of all prizes in the contest is at least CA$20,000, the contest provider had to file a security bond with the Régie. 2021 Changes to the Quebec Act In June of 2021, Quebec passed Bill 92, which exempted international Publicity Contests from certain requirements. This legislation removed the requirements for Publicity Contest operators running international contests to: (a) provide .5% of the total value of the prizes to the Régie and (b) post security for contests. Contest operators running international contests still had to comply with several other international requirements, including: (a) registering the contest with the Régie, (b) submitting the rules to the Régie in advance of the contest, (c) including certain Quebec-specific language and translating the contest into French; and (d) filing reports with the Régie at the conclusion of the contest. Rules for provincial and national contests remained the same. 2023 Changes to the Quebec Act On October 27, 2023, Quebec passed Bill 17, which removed all references to Publicity Contests in the Quebec Act and repealed the Rules Respecting Publicity Contests . All contests could now exist free from providing fees to the Régie or posting bonds. Contests would no longer have to register with the Régie, rules would no longer have to be submitted prior to contests, Quebec- specific language would not have to be inserted into the contest rules, reports would not have to be filed with the Régie at the conclusion of the contest. Publicity Contest providers were free from the Régie’s reign of contest supervision tyranny. Impact of 2023 Changes Sweepstakes contests may now be open to Quebec residents without sweepstakes providers having to register with the Régie. How will this impact sweepstakes contests in Quebec? One notable beneficiary of the updates to the Quebec Act are the savvy entrepreneurs (described earlier) who rely heavily on
A Publicity Contest had the following three elements:
a. a contest, lottery scheme, a game, a plan, or an operation; b. which results in the awarding of a prize; and c. carried on for the object of promoting the commercial interests of the person for whom it is carried on. 10 The Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (the “Régie”) was responsible for overseeing Publicity Contests. Providers offering Publicity Contests in Quebec had numerous compliance obligations, including the requirement that contests with a prize pool between CA$100-CA$2,000 had to: a. file a contest notice thirty days before contest launch (except if prize pool was under CA$1,000, then file five days before launch), and b. pay a percentage of the overall prize value to the Régie (10% for Quebec-only contests, 3% for Canadian contests that included Quebec, .5% for international contests that included Quebec). Contests with a prize pool over $2,000 had to: a. file a contest notice with the Régie 30 days before contest launch; b. pay a percentage of the overall prize value to the Régie (10% for Quebec-only contests, 3% for Canadian contests that included Quebec, .5% for international contests that included Quebec); c. file contest rules and advertisements with the Régie 10 days before contest launch; and d. complete and file with the Régie a written report with name, address and date the prize was awarded for each winner of a prize of CA$100 or more and verify whether all prizes have been delivered within 60 days of the date the winner was named.
Given the additional requirements for having contests in
showdoc/cs/L-6. [Hereinafter referred to as the “Quebec Act”] 10 Ibid. at 1(b).
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IMGL MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2024
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