Atlantic Lottery records record profits: 'We’re very proud'

Everyone who plays and wins has a story.

Whether it’s $100, $1,000, or a jackpot, Atlantic Lottery winners always remember their first time.

Robert Cormier has been playing for about 45 years.

He stopped by the lottery’s kiosk at CF Champlain mall in Dieppe, N.B., to pick up a ticket on Wednesday.

He’s hoping to win big some day, but back in 1990 he was the lucky winner of $2,000.

“It was great. I bought a car with it. A second-hand car,” said Cormier. “My girlfriend had to go buy a pint of milk so I said bring me a 6/49. She said, ‘You already bought some,’ and I said, ‘Bring me another one,’ and that was the winning ticket.”

Deborah Hawker has been playing since she was a teenager.

“I think I won a hundred dollars when I was in high school and I’ve been buying weekly probably ever since,” said Hawker.

Paige Blackmore has been playing since the early 1980s and once won $1,000.

“That was quite a few years ago. That was before it was even the big lottery it is now. It was just smaller then. Back then I wasn’t making a whole lot of money so it came in handy,” said Blackmore.

The corporation announced its annual report for 2022/2023 on Wednesday and it made a record profit of $492.2 million, an increase of $54.1 million.

Atlantic Lottery president and CEO Patrick Daigle said there’s no question the player base they’re attracting now is the highest that it has ever been.

“We’re very proud of that,” said Daigle.

Over $440 million in prizes were awarded to winners around Atlantic Canada and 893 people won a prize of $10,000 or higher, 101 more than the previous year.

A big part of the record profit comes from the corporation’s digital channel.

“We’re also seeing profits increase because we’re seeing a full recovery from the COVID restrictions that were in place last year,” said Daigle. “We’re very happy to see a full recovery on all of our lines of business and absolutely the digital channel is an area of improvement for us.”

Atlantic Lottery is the only legal and government-regulated provider of online gambling and sports betting in the region.

Advertising for online sports gambling websites from outside Atlantic Canada have been hard to miss with big name athletes and celebrities endorsing online betting sites from Canada and the United States.

Some of those sites have been allowed to operate in Ontario.

Daigle addressed the possibility of that happening in Atlantic Canada.

“That’s really a decision that the provinces have to make. Of course they evaluate what’s going on in the market place, we provide them research and data and it’s something that we work with them closely on,” said Daigle.

As far as keeping long-time players like Cormier, Hawker, and Blackmore engaged, Daigle said there will always be a place for customers in the retail channels.

“It’s still the foundation of our business. Our retailer network is so important to what we do. So we believe we’re able to still satisfy the needs of that player cohort,” said Daigle.

One hundred per cent of the profits go to the provincial governments in the region to help fund health care, education, and infrastructure.