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2018 - 2019
Summary of Results
At Nova Scotia Gaming, we’re proud that 100 per cent of gaming profits are helping to fund what matters most to Nova Scotians.
Each time you play one of our games, the profits are invested back into our province to help fund important programs and services including healthcare, roads, schools, cultural industries and sports.
How much was the Payment to Province in 2018-19?
Economic Impact of The Industry
$38.1 million
retailer commissions
1,022
ticket lottery retailers
272
video lottery retailers
$21.3 million
wages and benefits
503 Nova Scotians are also directly employed in the gaming industry.
How many Nova Scotians directly worked in each of these facilities in 2018-19?
Sydney casino employs more than 100 Nova Scotians who represent Great Canadian Gaming Corporation’s values of Citizenship through the PROUD program.
Together, we all take pride funding what matters to Nova Scotians because we’re Nova Scotians, too.
Good Work in Gaming
$6.6 million
Prevention, Education & Treatment
$4.0 million
Support4Sport
$4.0 million
Support4Culture
$169,000
Support4Communities
“When we look at the different events housed each year in communities – whether it’s a provincial basketball championship or a hockey championship – you know, certainly, there is the economic impact side of it. It brings other people to your community; it allows businesses within your community to grow, but I think on the more personal note, it gives kids an opportunity to see what might be possible. It builds friendships and linkages, whether it’s somebody from the Black community meeting someone from the First Nation community, or if its somebody from rural meeting somebody from urban. It exposes us to the real world in so many capacities.”
Mark Smith
High Performance Director & Head Coach for Women’s National Softball Team – Support4Sport Coach
Mermaid Theatre in Windsor, Nova Scotia offers classes, workshops, and demonstrations in puppetry and animation to families, teachers, recreation leaders, theatre professionals, and the industry. Participants learn from renowned puppeteers Struan Robertson, the theatre’s director of education and outreach (pictured), and managing artistic director Jim Morrow who studied under the late Jim Henson of Muppets fame.
Struan says the art of puppetry is “taking everyday objects that we throw away and transforming them into sculptures. Then, it’s our job as puppeteers to bring them to life. What we do here at Mermaid is so rare that we get people traveling from across North America to learn and create. We couldn’t do this without programs like Support4Culture.”
Mulgrave’s annual Monte Carlo event has become one of the most successful in Nova Scotia attracting more than 1,000 people and raising over $86,000 since it began.
“We hosted our first event in 2012,” says long-time volunteer, Allan George. “(Nova Scotia Gaming) helped us with training seminars for our volunteers, promotional support, materials and sponsorship. It’s a great program that helps a lot of communities.”
Mulgrave’s Royal Canadian Legion has used money from the fundraiser to purchase a new roof, heat pump, backup generator and propane tanks. The fire department has used the money to purchase a new frame for its rescue vehicle and is working toward buying a new truck with future funds raised.
Responsible
We promote responsible gambling because it is the cornerstone of our business.
In 2018-19, we helped make sure these important messages reached more Nova Scotians and visitors by translating our responsible gambling brochures to the most spoken languages in the province.
In how many languages have our responsible gambling brochures been translated into?
All six responsible gambling brochures are now available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin and Mi’kmaq.
The brochures can be found online at yourbestbet.ca, or you can pick these up in the Responsible Gambling Resource Centres in both Casino Nova Scotia locations.
Education has the power to change lives. For Paul Girard, this has been the driving force behind a 20-year career helping Nova Scotia deliver on its commitment to responsible gambling.
In 2019, Paul retired from his role as one of 14 coordinators at the Responsible Gambling Resource Centre, a program he helped NSGC develop.
“I remember a guest saying he had been in almost every major casino in North America and Casino Nova Scotia’s responsible gambling resource centre was the first demonstration that someone might care.” – Paul Girard.
We delivered a comprehensive suite of 11 responsible gambling programs, including working with Atlantic Lottery Corporation to deliver comprehensive Responsible Gambling Training for staff working in the industry.
All Casino Nova Scotia staff also completed responsible gambling training as part of their annual training.
Both the Halifax casino and Sydney casino maintained their RG Accreditations for responsible gambling programs.
In October 2018, we marked the 17th annual Responsible Gambling Awareness Week, Know the Game. The campaign achieved 80 per cent of its objectives. We have more work to do to reach our goal of people who can identify Nova Scotia Gaming as the campaign’s sponsor.
NSGC participated in the government’s announcement regarding Bill 49, which allows for the legislative changes to improve the Voluntary Self-Exclusion program.
Nova Scotia’s Voluntary Self-Exclusion program has not been updated since 1995 and is not keeping up with best practices in the industry. Nova Scotians contributed to a public consultation exercise in December 2018. This input will help remove barriers to participation for people who need help managing their play.
Sustainable
We worked with the regulator to offer no-cost seminars for community organizations and volunteers in Stellarton, Yarmouth, Sydney and Dartmouth. The seminars helped community organizations with their grassroots fundraising efforts, highlighting best practices and responsible gambling tips.
Lotto Max fans were thrilled by the chance to win 26 Max Millions events during the year.
In total, nine Atlantic Lottery players won a prize of over $500,000 in 2018-19 right here in Nova Scotia, including one lucky winner visiting our beautiful province while on vacation.
Nova Scotia winners can celebrate their big wins at Atlantic Lottery’s bright new office space in the Nova Centre in downtown Halifax.
Technology is rapidly changing the lottery industry, and we continue to make improvements and adapt. Through its ongoing partnership with Volta Labs in Halifax, Atlantic Lottery hosted a hack-a-thon in the Innovation Outpost to get fresh player perspectives.
Atlantic Lottery also launched a ticket checker App making it easier for players to verify their ticket right on their smart device. 116,000 people downloaded the App.
Poker Lotto launched in 2018-19 along with a new suite of digital instant games and completed a ticket lottery central system update. New Mini Games were also launched but later discontinued when technical defects interfered with player experiences. Improving these features make the games more appealing and engaging for players. Keeping games fun and safe comes first.
36 VLTs were retired through attrition in 2018-19. This brings the total number of terminals retired through attrition to 191 since 2011. Additionally, 13 new VLT games launched in Nova Scotia with mandatory responsible gambling features.
Video lottery revenue performed under budget due to attrition and temporary site closures.
Casino Nova Scotia incorporated player feedback to offer high-caliber experiences at both locations. This included improving food and beverage quality, buffet offerings and specials, such as lobster deals and wing specials.
Not all changes have resonated with players and revenue at the Sydney casino performed 11.8 per cent below budget while Halifax casino performed 13.5 per cent better than expected.
Casino Nova Scotia welcomed high performance acts to Nova Scotia including: Theory of a Dead Man, Ken Jeong, Steve Earle, and Burton Cummings.
Pictured here are some of the Halifax casino staff who make sure guests enjoy their visit when they come to eat, play or be entertained.
Accountable
NSGC is accountable to shareholders and stakeholders. In 2018-19, we:
Welcomed a full-complement of Board members;
Delivered quarterly, financial and community reports to shareholder;
Provided updates on strategic and operational matters to the Minister responsible for Part 1 of the Gaming Control Act; and,
Held regular meetings with Atlantic Lottery and Casino Nova Scotia as well as other stakeholder groups.
There were 221 incidents reported relating to Section 24(1)(e) of the Gaming Control Act. Most incidents were resolved through prescribed procedures, while five incidents that occurred in the fourth quarter remain open.
In 2018-19, we moved to an audit-based approach for Responsible Gambling Assessment (RGA) program. The program is designed to ensure new products, marketing, initiatives, promotions and programs are reviewed using objective risk-based criteria.
In total, 633 assessments were completed before they were released into market.
Expectations for performance management of our two operators, Atlantic Lottery and Casino Nova Scotia, are now outlined on Nova Scotia Gaming’s website. This illustrates our commitment to transparency in how we manage all our lines of business.
We surveyed Nova Scotians during Responsible Gambling Awareness Week to identify their level of support for regulated gaming.
In 2018-19, 64 per cent of residents surveyed said they were completely or mostly in favour of regulated gambling. This is up from five years ago when the level of support was 49 per cent.
Nova Scotians continue to become more aware of Nova Scotia Gaming’s role, and 81 per cent support the Province’s commitment to responsible gambling.
Community Programs
We continued to contribute to causes important to Nova Scotians through three hallmark community programs.
Support4Sport
Support4Sport, a designated ticket lottery program, is making meaningful impacts to sport throughout the province.
$4.0 Million
Support4Sport
Since its inception, the program has contributed over $42 million to support amateur athletes, coaches, officials, and community sport organizations.
In 2018-19, Support4Sport funding included:
- 189 athlete allocations;
- 90 coach and official allocations; and,
- 284 community and provincial sport organizations allocations, which reach 125,000 Nova Scotians on an annual basis.
We were proud to highlight their achievements at the annual Support4Sport Awards.
$4.0 Million
Support4Culture
Another designated lottery program is Support4Culture, which supports arts, culture, and heritage in communities across Nova Scotia.
Introduced in 2013, Support4Culture has contributed more than $16 million to date for over 400 aspiring and established artists and community arts, culture and heritage organizations.
Mermaid Theatre in Windsor (pictured) and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre in the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Annapolis Valley are two examples of fund recipients in 2018-19.
$169,000
Support4Communities
Support4Communities is a Nova Scotia Gaming program that helps organizations learn how to improve their fundraising efforts. In 2018-19, we helped 19 communities host Monte Carlo events which helped fund good causes all across the province.
In total, we invested $51,695 to help these local organizations raise more than $169,000 for good causes across the province.
- Beaver Bank Community Awareness Centre
- Bluenose Curling Club
- Clare Special Olympics
- Cystic Fibrosis Canada Nova Scotia Chapter
- Extreme Athletics in Dartmouth
- Gaetz Brook Monte Carlo Night
- Hants Learning Network Association
- Kinsmen Club
- Kinsmen Club (Sack-a-wa Canoe Club)
- Mulgrave Legion & Fire Department
- Muscular Dystrophy
- New Glasgow Special Olympics
- Orenda Canoe Club
- Porters Lake Community Services Association
- Queen’s Association for Supported Living
- Sport Nova Scotia
- Sydney YMCA
- Truro Centurions
- Yarmouth County Agricultural Society
To date, more than $1.2 million has been raised for good causes since Support4Communities began.
More Community Support
$1 Million
Harness Racing Industry
$50,000
Exhibition Association of Nova Scotia
$50,000
Cultural Federation of Nova Scotia
$10,000 Special Olympics Summer Games Friends & Family event in Antigonish.
$140,000 Feeling the love in support of Hospice Halifax