Budget change would allow charities to use computers in their lotteries

OTTAWA – Charity lotteries, which have been trapped in the snail mail age by outdated legislation, will be ushered into the 21st century under provisions in Tuesday’s budget.

The budget says the present law forces charity lotteries to process and activate all sales manually and then mail out the tickets.

The government is ready to change the law to allow them to use computers.

Now, they would be able to apply e-commerce methods to issue and process lottery tickets and receipts.

The document says major charities have told the government that the use of computers will save them millions of dollars in administrative costs.

“Charities will be able to use these substantial savings to support their important work,” the budget stated.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation alone has told the government that computers would save it $1 million a year.