Canadian provinces to launch online lottery wagering

Canada’s Atlantic provinces, working through the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, will soon use the Internet to sell tickets for six games, including 6/49, Payday and Lotto Super 7, reports the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The web-based gaming system will be the first of its kind in Canada, the publication reports, noting that the Lottery has been studying the potential of online wagering for several years, and hopes to have a betting facility up and running on the Lottery website before August next year.

Atlantic Lottery will be putting limits on how much a person can spend online, and will also verify that consumers are over 18 and live in the Atlantic region.

Lara Wood, marketing manager at the corporation, says web-based lotteries will reach a new market and not hurt retail ticket sellers.

“Because this is a very specific type of person who wants to do this, we don’t expect the impact to be very great,” she said.

Wood says there are more than 30 lottery companies around the world who have gone online.