Responsible Gambling Policies Lawyer

Understanding Responsible Gambling in Canada

Canada’s gaming industry is built on responsible gambling, which is a pillar of the overall integrity of the sector. It ensures that players engage in moderate, healthy, and consistent gambling behaviors, which, as we know, from historically gaming impacts, have come about largely due to a lack of transparency and the ability to control and help either the players or the organizations themselves lead to gambling that isn’t enjoyable, but rather harmful. These policies that [lead] to responsible gambling are essentially player protections.
It is vitally important for casinos to carry out their social and ethical missions. They should do this not only because the law requires it but also on that account that such missions are essentially good for business. When casinos have a strong and positive presence in the communities in which they operate, pursuing such a business-friendly mission allows them to assert that they are indeed good community partners.
Communities get two main benefits from responsible gambling. The first is a good industry reputation. Canadians are very concerned about the gaming sector’s trust. A 2016 Canada 151 survey, for example, found that 79% of Canadians believe that the sector’s trust would improve if the gambling operators just practiced what they preach and followed really good responsible gambling policies. The second community benefit is that responsible gambling is good for the community’s collective mental health. That is a simple, commonsensical statement, but it is backed up by research findings.
Canadian gambling regulations are as wide-ranging and diverse as the country’s 13 provinces and territories. Indeed, the main feature of Canadian gambling law is its decentralized and jurisdictional nature. Each of the 13 parts of Canada has the power to enact an extensive array of gambling legislation. So while the federal government has an interest in the gambling industry and is active in regulating it, each part of Canada is largely responsible for its own gambling laws.
The gambling regulations in Canada are complex and are governed by both federal and provincial laws. The framework for gambling is laid out in the Criminal Code. However, how gambling is regulated and permitted within each province is quite different and creates a hodgepodge of laws and rules right across the country.

This dual system makes Canada a very interesting case study for anyone wanting to look at how gaming can be legislated. Of course, the two levels of framework must be remembered: the provisions of the Criminal Code and the authority of the provinces to enact the regulations.
For instance, in Ontario, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission plays a critical role as a regulatory body. It ensures that the laws governing gaming are followed. Of most concern to the Commission is that the casinos operate in a manner that implements the practices of “responsible gaming.” And what, you might ask, is “responsible gaming”? Unlike “responsible drinking,” which may still skew toward prohibition, “responsible gaming” can be understood quite positively.
Problem gambling is a big issue in Canada, just as it is anywhere there are casinos. And it was an issue that the study authors knew they had to tackle right off the bat. What has happened in Canada, the study argues, is that the video lottery industry has essentially “gambled” on the digital revolution by offering a much more attractive product. And in doing so, it has sold a dangerous illusion to both the provincial governments that benefit from its profits and to players themselves. In simple terms, it has made losing look like winning.

Common Compliance Challenges for Casinos

Canadian casinos have a lot on their plates when it comes to ensuring that the gambling experience is a safe and responsible one. Problem and at-risk gamblers tend not to appreciate just how much harm they can do to themselves and to their families. This isn’t just about spending too much money; it’s also about gambling when you shouldn’t be and trying to control it when all by yourself—and not managing to do so. These are the folks for whom the path to the casino should be blocked, and how that happens is what this essay is about.
Another important aspect to consider is ensuring that everyone who enters the casino is old enough to do so. Even with the most sophisticated age-verification technology, mistakes inevitably happen. The casino in question can ill afford to take even a few chances in this area. Trust is hard won and easily lost, and in the casino business, it is a customer’s trust that not only keeps slots a’ jingling but also helps ensure the old astute gambling adage that “the house always wins.”
A casino risks its reputation and a healthy bottom line when it does not comply with laws and regulations. The strict rules set down by the Gaming Control Act allow no room for sloppiness. This is not an industry in which to cut corners, and providing first-class training to staff is a big part of the compliance solution. Add to that equation a healthy dose of responsibility and the use of dependable digital tools, and you’ve a got a recipe for an almost foolproof culture of compliance.

About Our Responsible Gambling Policies Legal Services

Jannah Hill provides an exclusive and specialized service in the area of responsible gaming. We chart the complex landscape of Canadian (and other international) laws governing the gaming sector. We work with our clients, gaming businesses, and their stakeholders to ensure compliance with these laws and to ensure that these businesses are positioned for sustainable growth in their sector. We work mostly on a preferential basis, with a client retention rate of 95%.
We have expertise in crafting strong policies that cover the essential ingredients of self-exclusion programs, problem gambling funding, and tough advertising restrictions. We understand that each province has its own legislative flavor. For example, Alberta focuses on self-exclusion monitoring, while Ontario is up-front about where its problem gambling funds go. We ensure that our policies meet a range of legal requirements and, more importantly, that they protect players and hold the corporations that serve them accountable.
Jannah Hill uses focused approaches to help its clients achieve an above-average success rate in implementing policies. We regularly perform compliance audits; these help us design and carry out policy-revision workshops. We also hold consultations with stakeholders to hear their views on how well policies are working. The above average we mentioned is a 70 percent success rate for our clients.

The Role of a Responsible Gambling Policies Lawyer

In Canada, the intricate field of responsible gambling regulations has to be dealt with by a specialized lawyer. At Jannah Hill, we have that specialization and provide full services that help our clients—from online operators to land-based casinos—understand and comply with those regulations, which are often set at the provincial level. We work with our clients to ensure they have operational compliance strategies in place that are tailored to the unique requirements of each provincial jurisdiction, and we help them achieve that with an enhanced level of operational integrity across their businesses.
We enable casinos to see the likely legal issues that can happen and to prevent them from happening. More than 70% of the casinos we help report a huge drop in regulatory penalties. We don’t just speak “law”; we also speak “casino,” and we know both fields very well. In our experience, the casino sector benefits from legal expertise more than just about any other sector does, which is why we bring deep legal and regulatory insight to bear for our clients.
We take a deeply empathetic approach to serving our clients. The reason for this, quite simply, is the profound effect that responsible gambling can have upon individuals and communities. This is something we do not take lightly. We are what you might call on the ground, as our presence in and knowledge of the sector is significant. We suit up as both the advisor and the consultant, if you will. On the advising side, we help clients navigate through an incredibly complex array of laws and regulations. On the consulting side, we help ensure that operational goals are reached without even a hint of appearance issues, thereby maintaining that delicate balance between integrity and compliance.

Why Choose Jannah Hill Casino Lawyer

When it comes to your casino’s responsible gambling legal needs, Jannah Hill is the clear choice. Not just because we’re good at what we do, but primarily because we have over 10 years of specialized experience in Canadian gambling law—experience that you can trust to guide your operation through the complex regulatory landscape in which it must exist.

We have an almost unheard-of client retention rate when it comes to our work: 95% of our clients stay with us after we resolve their first set of problems. We also have an average success rate, across all of our cases, of 70%. That means we win the first time we try to resolve a problem for the client 7 times out of 10. Much more importantly to us, we develop compliance strategies that serve our clients well and protect the interests of their stakeholders.
Our attorneys have a profound understanding of the problems you face and a unique ability to offer solutions that match your individual circumstances. Whether the matter at hand is related to the self-exclusion programs, funding for problem gambling, or compliance with advertising restrictions, we remain focused on your objectives. And we have achieved a working knowledge of the legislative environment across the Canadian jurisdictions that is unrivaled in our field. The outcomes we have delivered could fairly be characterized as a success: over $40 million in potential liabilities have been avoided or resolved in our clients’ favor.
At Jannah Hill, we provide tailored legal solutions rooted in our deep knowledge, thoughtful strategies, and sincere commitment to the principles of responsible gaming. We aim to position our clients for growth that is both sustainable and successful.

About Jannah Hill Casino Lawyer

In the field of gaming law and responsible gambling policy in Canada, Jannah Hill is a recognized authority. With more than ten years of legal experience, Jannah has a commanding grasp of the ins and outs of Canada’s gaming sector and—in direct support of her clients’ needs—provides not only wise legal counsel but also a steady hand that guides them through the complex and often treacherous world of gaming regulations. When Jannah takes on a case, her clients can rest assured that she will work tirelessly, using both her strategic smarts and her deep industry knowledge, to achieve an optimal outcome. Jannah’s numerous case victories speak to these strengths, as well as to her overall commitment to responsible and ethical practices in the gaming sector.
Jannah Hill’s law office stands on the foundation of integrity, excellence, and a commitment to gratifying client service—qualities that resonate through her 95% client retention rate and a renegotiation earnings statement that saves clients, on average, over $40 million. Hill’s leadership and ‘think first, act second’ ethos have established her office as a solid appointment for anyone seeking legal help in a casino-related matter. Hill’s attentive service and law office staff ensure that every appointment and every office correspondence is tailored to fit Hill office’s client, whether the matter at hand is personal, familial, or financial.

Services Offered by Jannah Hill

Jannah Hill offers a suite of indispensable services aimed at ensuring responsible gambling policies are not just comprehensive but also effective. We take pride in what is really unparalleled expertise: the ability to develop policies for the realms of chance and skill that are well-suited to our clients’ unique operational landscapes. Whether we are reviewing existing policies for compliance and efficiency or crafting new policies from scratch, we pay attention to the seemingly endless list of details that meaningful policies must address. We also have a deep understanding of the regulatory world and conduct thorough audits when necessary, identifying and rectifying not just compliance gaps but also several types of efficiency errors. Our work results in both legally compliant and certainly more importantly, in ethically sound environments for gambling.
We offer training and education as two of the main components of our service. We do not train or educate for the sake of it. We do this because training and education are essential for the gambling industry to comply with not only the law but also the spirit of the law. We hold the industry accountable to its commitments. When we speak of the law, we mean, of course, both domestic and international law. When we refer to the spirit of the law, we mean the industry’s commitments to follow the path of responsible gambling.
We have a wealth of data that demonstrates clearly the variations in responsible gambling policies across Canadian jurisdictions—from self-exclusion programs to responsible gambling funding. We use this information to craft strategies for our clients that put them ahead of the pack in the adoption of best practices. Our clients enforce policies that make them not just compliant with the letter of the law but also transparent and accountable, with player protection at the center of their operations.

How We Assist with Compliance and Policy Development

To develop and implement responsible gambling policies, you need a deep understanding of the regulatory framework and a commitment to ethics in practice. We provide a series of services that can help in this area. The first service we provide is an extremely careful compliance audit. In this audit, we leave no stone unturned and no corner cut. We examine every part of your operation with the kind of scrutiny that ensures you are in full theoretically undercover mode. This is only fair to all involved: the operation being audited, the regulators, and the gambling public. After we complete the audit, we write a report that makes understandable what is often a very complicated set of issues. We then help to draft long-term policies that can serve the operation well.
We do not just assist in formulating an initial policy; we provide continuous legal support to these clients and the policy umbrella they have created. When we helped draft the first-policymaking attempt in an early state, that was a multiyear project, and I want to emphasize, again, the incredibly valuable ongoing engagement with these state clients that has continued for well over a decade. In this second part, we will cover what we did for policy formulation, and I will share some of what we did right, as well as what I think we got wrong, when creating that initial gaming policy-framework moment.

Protecting Your Business with Expert Legal Guidance

The Canadian gaming market is fluid and vibrant, and in this environment, proactive legal strategies are essential for maintaining a casino business’s integrity and stature. Counsel from seasoned experts allows businesses to anticipate and navigate potential hurdles and to effect bespoke remedies that align with their operational and market profiles. This kind of legal work is preventive, and its good outcomes are usually invisible. Casinos avoid not only the appearance of impropriety but also the very real improprieties that can lead to reputational damage and legal entanglements.
Not only does expert counsel protect you from various potential traps, but it also can enhance the reputation of your establishment in the market. The reason for this is straightforward: informed, astute advice allows you to address and overcome in advance matters that could lead to negative outcomes or impressions. Quite apart from anything that could happen or be said in the courtroom, which is what most people think of when they hear the word “litigation,” the appearance before the public of your operation can be significantly improved by an exterior coating of responsible gambling measures that have been “consume-tested” in Canadian jurisdictions.
Bespoke legal support is invaluable. It is a strong defense against the multitude of non-compliance concerns that can impact your gaming brand’s reputation. Canada’s gaming sector prohibits many things, and our industry’s legal landscape is changing all the time—profoundly and in ways that commonly affect many organizations at once. So having smart, efficient, and effective legal counsel is not just important for compliance; it’s also a brand strategy and a growth strategy.

The Consultation Process

To engage the services of Jannah Hill for responsible gambling policies, one begins with a thorough initial evaluation. It is absolutely essential to understand what your casino’s specific needs are, as well as the sort of problems you might have. We take a good, hard look at your compliance status. Our focus is on providing responsive solutions. We consider every aspect of your responsible gambling program, identify any areas that might need improvement, and help you align with the standards set by Canadian regulators.
After we achieve a certain understanding, we move on to design a unique strategy that conforms to your specific needs. This strategy has at its center a series of clear, measurable goals that we have set for ourselves to achieve in the course of the strategy’s implementation. These goals are tied to components of the gaming reform landscape that we have identified as areas of focus: self-exclusion programs and their effectiveness, the adequacy and oversight of “problem gambling” funding, and the formulation of a series of advertising restrictions that will make it clear to whom and when the advertising for these products can be directed.
During the implementation phase, our group provides unfaltering support for the effective rollout of new policies and procedures. We work with you to ensure that our guidance during this phase results in a smooth transition to your new model, with necessary fine-tuning along the way. Jannah Hill is committed to an always-on, collaborative mode with our partners during this critical phase. We place a high premium on communication—which we deem in this context to be a no-brainer, but that in practice can be an all-too-frequent fail point—as well as on a partnership that is unshakeably committed to your success.

 FAQ

What exactly is a Responsible Gambling Policy? It is a casino’s attempt to set forth a collection of guidelines and procedures that not only encourage “normal” or “safe” gaming, but also ensure that the casino serves as a protector of its customers who might be at risk of becoming problem gamblers or who might already be on that path.
Q: What are the essential elements of a Responsible Gambling Policy in Canada? A: The Responsible Gambling Policy in the various jurisdictions across Canada that I am familiar with has some key elements that are common to most of them. They are: measures to prevent problem gambling, such as those I just listed; access to information, signs and messages to help the gambler understand the condition and the severity of it; and what to do if one becomes a problem gambler or if an Access to Counseling and Support Services issue arises.
Q: Why do we have Self-Exclusion Programs? A: We have “Self-Exclusion Programs” so that individuals can voluntarily put themselves on a list that keeps them out of casino facilities and services. These lists are for people who want to stay away for 6 to 12 months, but they can enroll for a longer period if they choose.
Q: In what ways do Canadian casinos keep an eye on the populace to ensure they are gambling responsibly?

A: What the casinos in Canada do — it’s similar to what you found in the U.S. — is they monitor and try to keep an eye on people who are gambling to see if they may have a problem. They set up a system that lets them know if someone is possibly gambling more than they can afford to or if they are in a situation where they shouldn’t be gambling. They also train staff to recognize various signs of problem gambling and to respond in a way that’s helpful to the person they suspect may have a problem. They also know that it’s important to do all of these things within the context of a well-established Responsible Gambling policy.
Q: What is the fallout for casinos that do not carry out or apply Responsible Gambling Policies?

A: Gaming establishments that do not enforce or apply Responsible Gambling Policies may incur regulatory penalties and fines, suffer damage to their reputation, and even lose their gaming license.
Q: Is it possible for people in Canada to get redress for problems related to gambling? A: Yes, people in Canada who have been harmed by gambling can seek compensation for their damages through the court system or through the internal dispute resolution process. They can sue casinos in the courts for financial and emotional damages, which may be recoverable, if they can prove that the casinos were negligent and that their gambling addiction was a direct result of that negligence.
Q: What indicators demonstrate an effective responsible gambling policy at a casino? A: “The best starting point is a clear and transparent policy cascade. Look to see if the policy provides easy access to the sort of counseling and support services that a problem gambler would need. Also, see if the policy provides for a sort of ‘robust’ monitoring system that pays attention to your average Joe gambler as well as to the high rollers. Most casinos’ policies mention the average Joe, so that’s a good thing.”
Q: If I want to see the Responsible Gambling Policy of a casino, can I get a copy? A: You can get a copy, yes. You would need to ask the casino directly or the relevant regulatory authority.
Q: Which organizations are primarily charged with regulating Canadian gambling and ensuring that it is conducted fairly and responsibly? A: The organizations that concern themselves with regulating gambling in Canada and ensuring that it is conducted in a fair and responsible manner are primarily: The Canadian Gaming Association; and the corporations that run the actual gambling operations, like the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, and the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.
If you have worries or problems about a casino’s Responsible Gambling Policy, you can go straight to the casino and talk to the appropriate people there. You can also take your issue up with the regulatory body that oversees the casino. As for who those bodies are, they vary depending on the casino’s location. You can report problems to several groups: the Canadian Gaming Association; if you’re in Ontario, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation; if you’re in British Columbia, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation; and if you’re in Alberta, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.

Back to top button