Recent Changes to Québec Régie for Contests and Sweepstakes

Out with the Old in with the New

When Bill 17 passing on October 27, 2023, it removed all requirements, rules, and regulations under The Régie, such as:

• No longer have to file contests.
• They have removed the 3-10% duty fee on prizes.
• There is no requirement to file winner reports post contest.
• Won’t need permission to do any changes to the contest during the campaign. 

You will still have to comply with Québec’s language legislation in the Charter of the French Language and cannot target children under the age of 13. Now contests in Quebec will be working under Canadian federal law (Competition Act [Canada] and the Criminal Code [Canada]). Unfortunately, any contest or sweepstakes that were filed before October 27^th, 2023 must continue with the old Régie rules and regulations until completion. 

What is RACJ and Régie?

The Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) is the Québec government’s established authority responsible for overseeing and regulating various industries, including alcohol, lotteries, promotional contests, gambling, racing, and combat sports. Hence Régie is the law of the land in Québec when it comes to being allowed to bring contests and sweepstakes to the province.

Up until very recently, brands conducting contests in Canada, North America, and even international marketing campaigns would often exclude Quebec. Mainly due to its very strict provincial laws for contests and sweepstakes. Those poor Quebecois (that’s Québec residents for the non-Canadians) are often left missing out on great prizes from great brands. However, as of October 27th, 2023, that has all changed. In this blog we’ll go over what that means for marketing teams and Quebecers alike.

The Régie and what it meant for Contests and Sweepstakes

How strict were the old regulations for contests and sweepstakes in Quebec before? Here’s a quick summary of the main cons that used to hold back marketers from entering the market under Régie regulations:

• You had to notify the province at least 60 days in advance of the start of your campaign.
• Marketers would have to procure a bond with the province based on the total ARV. All prizing that covered 3% if open to all of Canada or 10% if only open to Quebec. Failure to do so when submitting would lead to extra penalties.
• offered and failure to do so when submitting your form would lead to extra penalties.
• Must comply with French language requirements of the province and have all contest-related materials translated into French.
• Before launching the contest, you had to submit all advertisements and marketing-related materials to Regie in both English and French.
• Once you filed your documents you cannot withdraw from the proposed launch date without Regie’s approval post campaign. Failure to do so would lead to penalties.
• Must share all winners’ above $100 personal information post campaign. Failure to do so would lead to penalties.
• The contest does not permit entry or targeting of minors (those under the age of 13)

To sum it up, The Régie has always been a real deterrent for marketing teams wanting to include Québec. While majority of marketers from outside Québec often do not feel like it’s not worth the extra costs, time, and demands by Régie.

When it comes to contests and sweepstakes if a company wanted to include additional prizes before the final drawing, especially when there’s a lot of public interest gathered. This would not only require an update to the rules, legal approval and potential state approval depending on the campaign. With The Régie involved, you would not be able to add any additional prizes for 60 days leading up. Which only hurts the participants and reach of marketers impacting the success of the campaign.

Better late than Never

With the removal of the Québec Régie regulations on Contest and Sweepstakes, marketers can finally target Québec without the added paperwork and costs. No more will brands and marketing teams need to exclude Québec residents from their promotions and campaigns. There’s plenty of prizes out there to go around and it’s time for Quebecois to reap the rewards. 

RAVEN5 has been conducting contests and sweepstakes domestically and internationally for brands and agencies for the better part of two decades. This easement for marketers not only saves on time and paperwork, but also on sometimes significant cost. The sky’s the limit for prizing now in Québec. Just keep in mind that the US and other countries continue to include their own laws and requirements surrounding promotional contests and sweepstakes.

See: https://www.raven5.com/international-sweepstakes-contests/ for a quick guide to international laws.

Andrew Procyk, RAVEN5, November 2023

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