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Hold gaming under a licence
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Nova Scotia stands fully covered: its own filings and guidance stand in the books beside the federal ones.
A raffle, a bingo or a draw runs only under a licence.
In Nova Scotia, charitable gaming runs on the division’s permit or licence: a ticket lottery at $4,000 of prizes or under runs on a permit, and over $4,000 on a licence with a report and a fee on the prizes awarded. Bingo and games of chance carry licences of their own, at their own prize lines. Binds: Nova Scotia charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations (Gaming Control Act; Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division, Service Nova Scotia).
The law’s own words
“By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Ticket Lottery Permit to run a single draw ticket lottery with total prizes valued at $4,000 and under.”
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — Government of Nova Scotia, Ticket Lottery Permit: single draw ticket raffle with prizes $4,000 and under (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Read it at Justice Laws · Verified 2026-11-11
“By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Ticket Lottery Licence to run a ticket lottery with total prizes valued at over $4,000.”
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — Government of Nova Scotia, Ticket Lottery Licence: raffles with prizes over $4,000 (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Read it at Justice Laws · Verified 2026-11-11
“Charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations need to submit a Ticket Lottery Report if they run raffles with prizes over $4,000.”
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — Government of Nova Scotia, Ticket lottery report for raffles with prizes over $4,000: Ticket Lottery Licence (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Read it at Justice Laws · Verified 2026-11-11
“You also need to submit a fee of 2.13% of the value of the prizes awarded within 30 days of a single draw or each year for a multi-year Ticket Lottery Licence.”
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — Government of Nova Scotia, Ticket lottery report for raffles with prizes over $4,000: Ticket Lottery Licence (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Read it at Justice Laws · Verified 2026-11-11
“By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Charitable Bingo Lottery Licence to run a series of bingo games with total yearly prizes over $30,000 or a single bingo game with total prizes over $2,500.”
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — Government of Nova Scotia, Charitable Bingo Lottery Licence: series of events with yearly prizes over $30,000 or a single event with total prizes over $2,500 (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Read it at Justice Laws · Verified 2026-11-11
“By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Games of Chance Lottery Licence to offer games of chance.”
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — Government of Nova Scotia, Games of Chance Lottery Licence: charitable organizations (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Read it at Justice Laws · Verified 2026-11-11
Ticket Lottery Regulations (Nova Scotia) — ticket lottery permits
“By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Ticket Lottery Permit to run a single draw ticket lottery with total prizes valued at $4,000 and under.”
Source: Government of Nova Scotia — Ticket Lottery Permit: single draw ticket raffle with prizes $4,000 and under (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Checked 2026-11-11
Gaming Control Act (Nova Scotia) — charitable bingo and games of chance
“By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Charitable Bingo Lottery Licence to run a series of bingo games with total yearly prizes over $30,000 or a single bingo game with total prizes over $2,500.” “By law, charities, religious organizations and non-profit community organizations must have a Games of Chance Lottery Licence to offer games of chance.”
Source: Government of Nova Scotia — Charitable Bingo Lottery Licence; Games of Chance Lottery Licence: charitable organizations (Service Nova Scotia, Alcohol, Gaming, Fuel and Tobacco Division) · Checked 2026-11-11