How to hold a raffle

You'll find here key conditions everyone must follow when holding a raffle in Yukon.

You should familiarize yourself with these before you apply for a raffle licence. This will help you understand the legal requirements that come with holding a raffle.

If we approve your application, we'll also send you a complete list of terms and conditions as part of your licence.

You should also refer to the Lottery Licensing Act Regulations.

All raffles

Get a licence

• Ensure you have a licence before you hold a raffle.
• Remember, if you are the licence holder, you are responsible for the raffle's management - not the volunteers who may help you run the raffle.
• You're responsible for holding your raffle in accordance with:
  • terms and conditions of your raffle licence; and
  • the requirements of the Lottery Licensing Act Regulations.
• You must display your raffle licence and the terms and conditions in a prominent place at the venue.
• You must provide a copy of your licence and the terms and conditions to anyone who asks to see these.

Sale of tickets

• You must sell tickets at the prices and locations indicated on your licence.
• Keep careful track of all ticket sales. You can use our sample ticket inventory control worksheet or another system, if you wish.
• As the licensee, you may not purchase any unsold tickets.
• You can sell tickets to non-Yukoners who are physically present in Yukon and will be in Yukon for the draw.

Advertising

• You must include the licence number on all advertisements for your raffle.
• You may not advertise your raffle or sell tickets outside of Yukon.

The draw

• The draw must take place on the date and time and at the location indicated on your licence.
• You must award all prizes identified on your ticket in the order of their value, beginning with the most valuable prize.

Lost or stolen tickets

• You must report lost or stolen tickets immediately to the registrar, who will outline any additional steps.
• If you think tickets have been stolen, you must also report this to the police and provide us with the file number.

Financial reporting

• Download the final report for raffle form.
• You must submit a financial report within 30 days.
• Your financial report must be completed, signed and notarized.
• If you were approved to use proceeds toward travel, you must also submit a travel financial report.
• If you submit your report to us in person at 307 Black Street in Whitehorse, a notary may be available free of charge.

If gross sales are $9,999 or less

• You don’t need to submit supporting documents with your financial report.
• You must keep supporting documents on file for 1 year after your licence expires, in case we ask to see them.

If gross sales are over $10,000

With your financial report, you must submit:

• ticket distribution and sale records accounting for all tickets printed;
• receipts verifying all expenses and all proceeds spent (cancelled cheques are not acceptable documentation);
• a copy of an official bank statement showing your organization’s:
  • name;
  • account number;
  • the effective date; and
  • a balance of at least the amount of any proceeds not yet spent.

Interim financial reporting

• You must submit a raffle interim financial report form every 6 months until all of the proceeds are spent.
• You must include a bank statement to show that any unspent proceeds are still in your designated account.
• If your organization has spent any of the proceeds, include receipts to prove the proceeds were spent for approved uses.
• You can carry over unspent proceeds for 1 year from the expiry date on your lottery licence. If you are unable to spend all of the proceeds within the year, you must submit a proceeds carryover application.  

Who can prepare your financial report?

• You can either prepare your own financial report or hire a professional accountant to compile your report.
• If you hire an accountant, the cost of their services is an allowable expense.

When can you get another licence?

After we receive satisfactory financial reports, you can apply for another licence.

What are proceeds?

Once you've paid all prizes and allowable expenses for running your raffle, the money that remains constitutes your gaming proceeds.

On your licence application, you'll request specific uses of proceeds. To be approved, these must:

• support your organization’s charitable work; and
• comply with applicable case law and our policy.

If you wish to use proceeds towards travel expenses, you must submit a charitable gaming request for travel form. 

If you wish to change the way you use proceeds, you must request the change in writing from us before spending your proceeds. Any requested change must meet the criteria above in order to be approved.

Single day raffles

Single day raffles include 50/50s and meat or product draws that use roll tickets. If you have a licence for a single day raffles, you must also follow the key terms and conditions below.

Ticket sales

• The total licensed ticket sales value can not be more than the amount stated on your licence.
• You may decide how many draws to hold in a 7-hour period.
• Tickets should be in 2 parts and each part will have the same number on it. The ticket buyer keeps one part and the other part is entered into the draw. Tickets must be numbered consecutively.
• If you will hold consecutive draws over multiple days, the tickets for each day's draw must be in a different colour.
• You must keep ticket sales in the controlled area identified in your licence.

The draw

• When ticket sales start, you must announce or post a notice of when and where you will award the draw's prizes. This must also state the time the next draw will start.
• The draw winner must have at least 10 minutes to claim their prize.
• The draw winner must sign that they received the prize.
• If a draw winner does not claim their prize with the time identified on the raffle licence, you must draw additional tickets until a winner claims the prize.

Financial reporting

• In addition to completing your final financial report, you must also complete a ticket inventory control sheet. This form accounts for all ticket sales and money earned from the sales.
• As licence holder, you must provide a secure location to reconcile tickets sales and cash.
• In case there is a dispute, you must provide a contact name and number to the public.