Atlantic Lottery shows nearly $500M in profit with annual report

The Atlantic Lottery building in Moncton, N.B., is pictured on Feb. 9, 2024.

Atlantic Lottery’s 2024-25 annual report says it returned $498.7 million in profit, an $11.7-million increase from the previous year.

A news release says the return comes from the destination line of business, retail and iLottery line of business.

The annual report says it promotes healthy play, returns profit to communities and is making progress to reduce the impact of illegal gambling operators.

“Atlantic Lottery exists to benefit the people and places of Atlantic Canada,” said president and CEO Dallas McCready. “Each year, we deliver 100 per cent of our profit to the four Atlantic provinces. This funding supports essential services like health care, education and infrastructure that make a lasting difference across our region. It’s also important to note that 92 cents of every lottery dollar stays in our region. In addition to profit to provinces and funds paid to winners, our revenue is allocated to Atlantic Canadian retailers and operations, salaries and benefits, all of which benefit our local communities.”

By province the organization returned:

• $165.1 million to Nova Scotia
• $154.6 million to New Brunswick
• $153.1 million to Newfoundland and Labrador
• $25.9 million to Prince Edward Island

Overall, Atlantic Lottery awarded $461.2 million in prizes for 2024-25.

“The increased profit in 2024-25 is largely the result of Atlantic Lottery’s focus on strengthening its online offerings and player experience,” the release reads.

The organization said 114,000 voluntary healthy play tools were adopted by the player base, a 47 per cent increase from the previous year.

McCready said Atlantic Lottery is also working to tackle the illegal gambling market, which he said takes around $200 million away from the Atlantic economy.

“We’re continuing to respond to this challenge by enhancing our products to align with player preferences,” McCready said. “In 2024-25, we increased Atlantic Lottery’s market share of total online betting and gaming activity in the region to 34 per cent, up from 22 per cent in the previous year. We have an ambitious goal over the next five years to reach 50 per cent of the regional gaming market, which will ensure we keep even more dollars here in Atlantic Canada to help build stronger communities instead of benefiting private operators.”

Atlantic Lottery is publicly owned by the four Atlantic provinces and returns 100 per cent of its profit to the provincial governments.