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From scratchers and break opens to random-draw games like Lotto 649, Atlantic Lottery Corporation provides Atlantic Canadians with a wide range of government-regulated lottery products. Operating for nearly 50 years, what started with a single-game ticket has grown to include bingo, sports betting and online casinos for customers across the East Coast.
Starting bets
Atlantic Lottery (A.L.) Corporation was formed on September 3, 1976, by the provincial governments of the four Atlantic Canadian provinces. Headquarters were established in New Brunswick and the organization set a dual mandate of providing a responsible, government-regulated means to play the lottery and keeping 100 per cent of profits in the region.
Initially, A.L. offered one game to play — A-1, which was a $1 game sold in books of five with draws happening every two weeks. The inaugural draw for A-1 occurred on December 15, 1976. Since then, the organization steadily expanded its line of products.
Growing ways to play
In 1979, A.L. joined the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (I.L.C.), a collection of other publicly-owned lotteries in Canada, to offer Super Lotto tickets to its customer base. This partnership led to the launch of the popular Lotto 6/49 game in 1982 and allows A.L. to continue to offer national lottery games to Atlantic Canadians today.
Atlantic Lottery Corporation further expanded its product offerings in 1983 with the release of its first Scratch’N Win game, TicTacToe, and became the first lottery to offer breakopen tickets in 1986. The corporation also later launched a TAG add-on for its popular lottery games, video lotteries for each province and its PRO•LINE brand for sports betting.
Redeeming winnings
In addition to expanding its product offerings, A.L. has utilized technology to improve the overall gaming experience. In 1987, the organization implemented ticket barcodes to enable ticket validation through a central online system. The following year, A.L. created a Prize Redemption Online System (P.R.O.S.) that allows retailers to check tickets using in-store terminals. According to A.L., they were the first lottery to introduce this sort of technology.
The organization also became the first lottery to have a website in 1996. Initially, this was a place where customers could find information on winning numbers, game details and prize winners. However, with the launch of its PlaySphere web portal in 2004, A.L. began selling its lottery products online. This started with random draw games and sports betting. Bingo and other interactive games were made available online in 2007 and digital instants were added in 2017. The PlaySphere website has since been renamed alc.ca.
Still playing
Today, Atlantic Lottery Corporation continues to provide Atlantic Canadians with a variety of lottery products, which can be purchased in retail stores, online or through A.L.’s app. With headquarters in Moncton, N.B., the organization also has regional offices in Halifax and St. John’s and two Red Shores racetrack and casinos in P.E.I.
Commenting on Atlantic Lottery’s continued commitment to the region, Patrick Daigle, President and CEO, said: “We’re so proud to call this region home. The opportunity we have to give back to this place and its people is what drives me and everyone at Atlantic Lottery to do just that every day.”
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