The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is one of the biggest gaming providers in Canada. As such, it has a responsibility to the general public to promote responsible and safe gambling among its players. Along with the OLG’s modernization players, which will expand the market, the corporation has also made plans to expand its responsible gambling efforts. Paul Pellizzari of the OLG has recently written a letter to The Nugget outlining these plans.
“The majority of our customers are educated, middle to high-income earners who play responsibly,” says Pellizzari. “But we realize there are risks associated with gambling and we deal with them head-on”.
Currently, the OLG donates $40 million to responsible gambling programs across the province. Programs are aimed at problem gambling prevention and treatment, as well as focusing on problem gambling research. The OLG also hosts one of the most successful self-exclusion programs out there today, using facial recognition technology to keep problem gamblers from squandering their income and savings.
Over half of this money is spent on providing free problem gambling counselling at over 50 locations across Ontario. 7200 trained counsellors are employed by the OLG, readily available to offer assistance to problem gamblers in need.
The OLG also has a responsibility to other programs that are aimed at benefitting the local public. $2 billion is spent on health and education, providing much-needed funding to valuable services that Ontario residents truly require.
