Loto-Québec’s run of good financial performances continued last week with the announcement of the Québec online gaming monopoly’s most recent annual financial report. The 2022-23 report (available in French here) showed that the king of gambling in Québec brought in $2.999 billion in total revenues. This represents a 35% ($781.3 million) increase over 2021-22.
Loto-Québec also announced record profits alongside their strong revenue numbers with an overall net income of $1.600 billion. This means the Canadian lottery company made 40% ($456.8 million) more in profit in 2022-23 compared to 2021-22.
Article Highlights
- Loto-Québec will pay a dividend of $1.597B to the Government of Québec.
- Loto–Québec paid out over $1.5 billion dollars in jackpots and lottery prizes in 2022-23.
- The casino and gaming hall sector had its best year ever.
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Loto-Québec’s community impact and responsible gambling front-and-centre
As a result of its extremely successful 2022-23 fiscal year, Loto-Québec will pay a dividend of $1.597 billion to the Government of Québec as a result of its 2022–2023 operations. This means Loto-Québec gets to keep just $3 million of its 2022-23 profit. However, this is something the Québec gambling company is very proud of.
In its statement, Loto–Québec President and CEO, Jean-François Bergeron, said “Our teams came together to provide the people of Québec with the gaming and entertainment experience Loto–Québec is known for, and their work and the overall sound management yielded exceptional results. We have our talented and dedicated employees to thank for being in such a good position after some difficult years. There’s a lot to be proud of when you consider that 100% of what we generate goes back to the people and province of Québec.”
The continued growth of gambling activity in Quebec does lead to more questions as to if the province will set up a private sports betting market and allow legal sports betting sites to operate anytime soon.
Bergeron also added the importance of conducting Loto–Québec in a “socially responsible manner” and emphasized the fact that Loto–Québec “is the only 100% legal gaming website in Québec.” That latter point is an especially contentious one right now as Loto–Québec faces growing pressure from outside groups to open up the Québec online gaming market. For now, there seems to be no plans of that happening. However, Quebec could join Ontario and make a legal Canada sports betting market in the future.
According to Loto–Québec, another thing that won’t be changing is the lottery’s commitment to responsible gambling in Québec. The company reported a $33.6 million investment in responsible gambling in 2022-23. This money went towards establishing new programs, research projects, and other efforts made to make sure that gaming in Québec “remains a game.”
Loto–Québec paid out big to Québec gamblers
Loto–Québec paid out over $1.5 billion dollars in jackpots and lottery prizes in 2022-23. Included in these payouts were over 107 winners of $1 million plus jackpots all across the province. Loto–Québec describes these huge payouts as “crowning 84 new millionaires” in Québec.
In addition to the many million-dollar plus jackpots, record-winning jackpot amounts were also set in the last fiscal year. A Montérégie resident won $70 million dollars playing Loto–Québec’s Lotto Max game. A Lanaudière resident won over $3 million playing three-card poker at the Casino de Montréal.
Lottery game revenue decreasing, casino revenue increasing
Lottery games, casinos and gaming halls, online gambling in Québec, and other gambling establishments are the main sources of Loto–Québec’s record-setting 2022-23 revenue. In addition to revenue numbers changing significantly in 2022-23, where Quebec gamblers chose to spend their money also changed in 2022-23.
Lottery games, which were once thought to be the most popular form of gambling in Québec, actually saw a slight decrease in revenue in 2022-23. Lottery games earned 1.1% ($11.3 million) less in 2022-23 than 2021-22, but Loto–Québec still says this “is still an excellent result since it comes on the heels of a record year.”
Québec casinos and gaming halls saw the biggest increase in 2022-23 compared to the 2021-22 numbers. This sector had a 67.6% ($444 million) increase over 2021-22. “The casino and gaming hall sector had its best year ever” according to Loto–Québec. In total, Québec casinos and gaming halls brought in $1.101 in revenue. $269.9 million of that amount came from online casinos in Québec, which itself was a sector that grew 1.7% ($4.2 million) in the past year.
While online casinos in Québec online grew by 1.7%, total online gambling revenue in Québec grew by 3.3% ($13.0 million). This brings online gambling in Québec’s revenue up to $403.9 million, which is 13.5% of Loto-Québec’s total 2022-23 revenue.
Gaming establishments, such as bars with video lottery terminals, event betting, Kinzo, and network bingo, earned $922.2 million in revenue for Loto–Québec in 2022-23. This represents a 64.6% ($362.0 million) increase on last year’s numbers.
Noah Strang is an experienced sports writer having covered many professional sports leagues across North America. He has worked extensively covering the NHL and been accredited media for the Vegas Golden Knights in the past. He’s also known as one of the best iGaming writers across Canada with extensive experience covering the development of legal sports betting across the country. He was born and raised in Vancouver, BC, and enjoys taking advantage of the coastline. When not writing, you can find him watching whatever sport is on TV or playing pickup basketball.