Case information
Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.
42141
Atlantic Lottery Corporation, et al. v. Attorney General of Ontario
(Ontario) (Civil) (As of Right)
Docket
Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.
| Date | Proceeding | Filed By (if applicable) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-18 | Letter acknowledging receipt of a notice of appeal, File opened | |
| 2025-12-12 | Notice of name, (Letter Form), (Printed version filed on 2025-12-18) | Atlantic Lottery Corporation |
| 2025-12-10 | Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A, (Printed version filed on 2025-12-18) | Atlantic Lottery Corporation |
| 2025-12-10 | Notice of appeal, (Letter Form), Completed on: 2025-12-19, (Printed version filed on 2025-12-18) | Atlantic Lottery Corporation |
Parties
Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.
Main parties
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Lottery Corporation | Appellant | Active |
| British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation | Appellant | Active |
v.
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney General of Ontario | Respondent | Active |
Other parties
| Name | Role | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Canadian Gaming Association | Intervener | Active |
| Flutter Entertainment plc | Intervener | Active |
| NSUS Group Inc., NSUS Limited | Intervener | Active |
| Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke | Intervener | Active |
Counsel
Party: Atlantic Lottery Corporation
Counsel
Chanakya A. Sethi
Ryan Reid
155 Wellington Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3J7
Telephone: (416) 863-5595
FAX: (416) 863-0871
Email: mmilne-smith@dwpv.com
Agent
331 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0J8
Telephone: (613) 282-1712
FAX: (613) 288-2896
Email: msobkin@sympatico.ca
Party: British Columbia Lottery Corporation and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation
Counsel
Chanakya A. Sethi
Ryan Reid
155 Wellington Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3J7
Telephone: (416) 863-5595
FAX: (416) 863-0871
Email: mmilne-smith@dwpv.com
Agent
331 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0J8
Telephone: (613) 282-1712
FAX: (613) 288-2896
Email: msobkin@sympatico.ca
Party: Attorney General of Ontario
Counsel
Ananthan Sinnadurai
Hera Evans
Jennifer Boyczuk
Crown Law Office - Civil
720 Bay Street, 8th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2S9
Telephone: (416) 908-7465
FAX: (416) 326-4015
Email: joshua.hunter@ontario.ca
Party: Canadian Gaming Association
Counsel
Adam Goldenberg
Gregory Ringkamp
Rachel Abrahams
66 Wellington Street West
Suite 5300, TD Bank Tower
Toronto, Ontario
M5K 1E6
Telephone: (416) 601-4343
Email: dbush@mccarthy.ca
Party: Flutter Entertainment plc
Counsel
Kelsey Flanagan
Brandon Chung
235 King Street East
1st floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5A 1J9
Telephone: (416) 368-5000
FAX: (416) 368-6640
Email: shutchison@hhllp.ca
Party: NSUS Group Inc., NSUS Limited
Counsel
Teagan Markin
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, Suite 3400
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 4E3
Telephone: (416) 367-6746
FAX: (416) 367-6749
Email: ghamilton@blg.com
Party: Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke
Counsel
Sarah Glickman
250 University Avenue, 8th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 3E5
Telephone: (416) 981-9943
FAX: (416) 981-9350
Email: nkennedy@oktlaw.com
Summary
Keywords
Criminal law — Statutory interpretation — Criminal Code — Provinces — Gaming and betting — Lotteries — Would legal online gaming and sports betting remain lawful under the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, if its users were permitted to participate in games and betting involving individuals outside of Canada as described in the attached Schedule? If not, to what extent?
Summary
Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.
By Order in Council 210/2024, the Lieutenant Governor in Council referred the following questions to the Ontario Court of Appeal on February 2, 2024, pursuant to s. 8 of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43:
Would legal online gaming and sports betting remain lawful under the Criminal Code if its users were permitted to participate in games and betting involving individuals outside of Canada as described in the attached Schedule?
If not, to what extent?
A majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal answered the first question in the affirmative: legal online gaming and sports betting would remain lawful under the Criminal Code if its users were permitted to participate in games and betting involving individuals outside of Canada as described in the Schedule attached to the Order in Council (“Proposed Model”). This made it unnecessary to address the second reference question. The reference question turned on a statutory interpretation analysis of s. 207(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, which provides that notwithstanding any of the provisions of Part VII relating to gaming and betting, it is lawful for “the government of a province” to “conduct and manage a lottery scheme in that province”.
In dissent, van Rensburg J.A. would have answered the first question in the negative. She agreed with the majority that the reference turned on the interpretation of s. 207(1)(a), but did not agree with the majority’s interpretation or analysis. In her opinion, legal online gaming and sports betting would not remain lawful under the Criminal Code if Ontario were to implement the Proposed Model. As for the second reference question, “If not, to what extent”, Ontario’s involvement in the international liquidity aspects of the Proposed Model would contravene the gaming prohibitions in the Criminal Code, and the exemption in s. 207(1)(a) would not apply.
Lower court rulings
Reference questions submitted by the Lieutenant Governor in Council (Ontario) by Order in Council 210/2024 answered
Filed documents
The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.
Downloadable PDFs
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Related links
The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.
Downloadable PDFs
Not available
Related links
The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.
If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.
Downloadable PDFs
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