Answer

In 1973, the federal government set up the Olympic Lottery to help fund the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

That’s where the tie between lottery and sports started. In 1976, separately of the Olympics, we were established by the four Atlantic provinces, and our mandate has always been to provide revenue to each province’s General Revenue fund. Profits are not specifically earmarked for sports, however, in Nova Scotia a designated suite of ticket lottery products direct all of the profits to sports funding.

2 Comments

Dave Delaney

03/12/2012

Atlantic Lotto was created to support minor sports, no child should be denied access to sports. This lotto should have a process to make sure that doesn't happen

Atlantic Lottery

03/13/2012

It was never Atlantic Lottery's mandate to fund amateur sport. Since we opened our doors, our mandate has been to provide revenue to the General Revenue Fund of each of the four Atlantic Provinces by returning 100% of our profit. The confusion about lottery funding sport goes back to 1973 when the federal government established the Olympic lottery to help pay for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Many Canadians have associated lottery with amateur sport ever since, however, this is not where our profits go.