The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) entered the year with a clear vision to serve the people of Ontario through a common sense approach to outcomes-based, smart regulation.

This year was defined by strategic clarity and strong execution — the kind that quietly reinforces public trust, strengthens sector stability, and affirms the value of a regulator acting with clarity and purpose. Across every sector we regulate, the AGCO remained focused on ensuring that the standards we uphold reflect not only the laws of the province, but the interests of the people we serve and the businesses we regulate.

The AGCO’s success over this past fiscal year lies not only in what was delivered, but how it was delivered — with expertise, efficiency and in support of government priorities. That alignment was demonstrated in the agency’s work across all regulated sectors.

One of the most significant milestones was the expansion of alcohol retail sales through convenience and grocery stores across the province. The AGCO’s role in enabling this transformation was grounded in customer experience, responsible licensing, and a strong compliance model. In just a few months, more than 3,500 licence applications were assessed and issued, and thousands of new retail entrants supported — a clear demonstration of effective regulation in action.

In the cannabis retail sector, the AGCO continued its focus on maintaining high standards for public safety, while ensuring the regulatory environment supports fair market access and sector sustainability. The agency worked closely with provincial and enforcement partners—including the Ministry of the Attorney General, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Ontario Cannabis Store—to combat the illicit cannabis market. To that end, we also directly engaged with a wide cross section of sector stakeholders and service providers to explore the challenges and partnership opportunities for reducing the illegal market’s footprint.

The AGCO continued its strong oversight of Ontario’s igaming market. By the end of the year, 50 operators and 83 active websites were registered, with the province achieving a channelization rate of approximately 85%, indicating the legal market's ability to capture a significant share of players. Additionally, this year, the Government of Ontario announced its intention to establish iGaming Ontario as an independent agency reporting to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, rather than operating as a subsidiary of the AGCO. We are proud to have played a pivotal role in establishing iGaming Ontario in its early days and will continue to work together to ensure a stronger, safer, and responsible igaming market for the province.

Sustainability is at the core of modern regulation — not only in fiscal terms, but in design, delivery, and trustworthiness. In 2024–2025, the AGCO advanced key reforms to modernize its licensing, streamline its inspection models, and improve its digital service. The agency also delivered on important accountability commitments, including through continued action on the Auditor General’s Value for Money Audit recommendations.

Throughout this progress, the Board of Directors remained focused on risk management, strategic renewal, good governance, and organizational readiness. That work culminated in the approval of the AGCO’s new 2025–2028 Strategic Plan. Built around four priorities — reducing harm, fostering industry sustainability, strengthening internal capacity, and developing talent — the Plan reflects our shared vision and commitment to the agency’s role in sustaining the public interest.

As we look ahead, it is important to acknowledge those who have made these successes possible. I would like to thank our Board of Directors and particularly acknowledge outgoing Board members Cara Vaccarino and Heidi Reinhart for their valued contributions and service to the AGCO Board, the agency and the people of Ontario. Cara completed her term as a Director in 2024-2025 and Heidi stepped away from her duties as a Director in 2025-2026 when iGaming Ontario was established as an independent agency, as she is the Chair of the iGaming Ontario Board. I also extend my appreciation to CEO and Registrar Karin Schnarr, the executive team, and all AGCO staff for their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to public service.

Regulation, when done well, protects and enables. I’m pleased to present this annual report, detailing how the AGCO’s efforts over the past year have successfully met both of these objectives.

Dave Forestell, Chair
 

The 2024-2025 fiscal year marked my first full year as Registrar and CEO of the AGCO, and it has been a privilege to lead an agency that plays such an important role in the lives of Ontarians. From modernizing our regulatory frameworks to supporting transformational change across the sectors we regulate—alcohol, gaming, cannabis retail, and horse racing—our focus remained on delivering smart, responsive and effective regulation that protects the public while enabling industry vitality.

Over the past year, I met with our stakeholders in their storefronts, in one-on-one meetings and at industry forums. This open, continuous and direct communication reinforced that our stakeholders are passionate about their businesses and see the AGCO as key to their sustainability. They recognize the value of regulation and urge us to uphold public trust while enabling their success – which we are committed to doing. I’ve also regularly engaged with AGCO staff across the province and continue to be inspired by their dedication, professionalism and commitment to the public and sector stakeholders.

One of the most significant areas of focus this year was the expansion of alcohol sales to convenience and grocery stores—a Government of Ontario initiative aimed at offering Ontarians greater choice and convenience. We worked closely with the LCBO and other stakeholders to support the end-to-end experience of new retailers, from licence application to inventory ordering and delivery. By the close of this fiscal year, the AGCO had issued nearly 5,700 licences and conducted over 8,800 inspections, ensuring safeguards remained firmly in place. We accomplished this while facilitating market access for eligible businesses and helping to deliver on a major government priority.

In the cannabis sector, the AGCO maintained its commitment to protecting the public while supporting the sustainability of private cannabis retail. A notable achievement was the successful rollout of a new point-of-sale data platform, in partnership with the Ontario Cannabis Store. Using technology, changes were introduced to make it easier for retail operators to track and report on inventory and sales. This new process reduces the burden of manual reporting and creates a system-wide guardrail that protects against the risk of diversion to the illicit market.

This year marked the third year of Ontario’s open and regulated internet gaming (igaming) market—a model that continues to gain national and global attention. The AGCO remained focused on upholding high regulatory standards that foster a competitive and responsible market, and one that establishes strong protections for players. Our work is making a real difference in creating confidence in Ontario’s legal gaming market.

As regulator, we enforce strong standards that guard against unlawful activity and support the broader anti-financial crime ecosystem. Our standards require gaming operators to protect against attempts at money laundering, report suspicious activity, and intervene with players who may be susceptible to using illicit funds in the market. Additionally, as we continue to prioritize safer gambling safeguards, the AGCO proactively conducted 15 responsible gambling compliance reviews on average every month to ensure igaming operators were fulfilling their obligations. Due to our standards, igaming operators intervened with patrons displaying risky behaviour over 89,000 times each month, on average.

To protect the integrity of horse racing, the health and welfare of racehorses and the safety of all participants, the AGCO introduced new rules and protocols this year. These included enhanced safeguards before a change of horse ownership and a series of evidence-based measures at Woodbine Racetrack following a concerning rise in catastrophic injuries at the end of the season. These changes reflect our commitment to acting quickly and collaboratively to uphold the safety of both animals and participants.

In March 2025, we launched a new three-year Strategic Plan—a roadmap shaped through consultation with stakeholders, guidance from our Board, and a clear focus on public interest. The plan positions us to be an even more data-driven, outcomes focused regulator that is responsive to Ontario’s changing social and economic landscape.

With the goal of responsible financial stewardship, we made changes to strengthen our organization’s financial management and oversight. We established a dedicated Finance and Risk Management Division to enhance our strategic capacity and move toward financial self- sufficiency. We also reorganized our team to establish a new People and Culture Division, underscoring our commitment to employee achievement, well-being and talent development.

The AGCO remains committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and delivering services in an accessible, culturally aware and responsive way. The AGCO’s new Strategic Plan confirms that diversity, inclusion and accessibility remain central to our role as an employer and service provider. We were honoured to be recognized as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers for the second consecutive year. This recognition affirms our values and the positive culture we continue to cultivate at the AGCO.

Looking ahead, we will remain agile and focused on protecting the public while supporting vibrant, sustainable sectors. We are committed to being a world-class regulator—one that reduces the risk of harm while enabling innovation and responsible growth through smart regulation. Whatever challenges lie ahead, we will continue working alongside our customers, stakeholders and government partners to shape a regulatory environment that is trusted, future- ready, and aligned with the needs of Ontarians.

Dr. Karin Schnarr, Registrar and CEO
 

Introduction

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) is an Ontario provincial regulatory agency reporting to the Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG). It is a corporation under the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Act, 2019 .

The AGCO is responsible for regulating the alcohol, gaming, horse racing, and cannabis retail sectors in accordance with the principles of honesty and integrity, and in the public interest. In so doing, the AGCO administers the Liquor Licence and Control Act, 2019, the Gaming Control Act, 1992, the Horse Racing Licence Act, 2015 and the Cannabis Licence Act, 2018. The AGCO also administers the charity lottery licensing Order-in-Council 208/2024.

AGCO Subsidiary

iGaming Ontario (iGO) was established as a subsidiary corporation of the AGCO in 2021. iGO is responsible for conducting and managing igaming through private operators in Ontario. The AGCO’s role as a regulator is kept separate from iGO’s commercial role. The AGCO continues to be responsible for regulatory oversight of all gaming activities in Ontario, including private igaming operators, suppliers and iGO. Companies who successfully enter the Ontario market are required to meet rigorous standards of game and operator integrity, fairness, player protections and social responsibility.

The AGCO’s Annual Report must contain the Annual Report of its subsidiary. As such, the iGO Annual Report is appended. On May 12, 2025, the Government of Ontario proclaimed the iGaming Ontario Act, formally establishing iGaming Ontario as an independent agency. As of that date, iGO is no longer a subsidiary of the AGCO and reports to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming, led by the Honourable Stan Cho.

Board of Directors

The AGCO Board of Directors (the Board) is responsible for the overall governance of the AGCO. In exercising its governance functions, the Board sets goals and strategic direction for the agency to fulfill its mandate; this includes working with the Chief Executive Officer and senior management on regulatory and governance activities.

As part of its governance structure, the Board meets regularly and has two standing committees. These committees are the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee and the Strategic Oversight and Governance Committee. The committees are accountable to the Board and provide regular updates at board meetings, highlighting key decision points, areas of substantive discussion and recommendations to the Board.

• The Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee is responsible for providing oversight on matters related to financial performance. This committee also provides oversight on cybersecurity, internal audit activities, risk management and emergency management, including internal control systems, and annual risk management and audit plans.
• The Strategic Oversight and Governance Committee is responsible for ensuring the agency has an effective governance framework and is carrying out its responsibilities and fulfilling its legislative mandate. This committee is responsible for monitoring and assessing the agency’s performance against key strategies and objectives and providing strategic oversight with respect to the AGCO’s human resources strategy.

Appointments to the AGCO Board are administered through the Public Appointments Secretariat. The Board is currently composed of a Chair and five Members, all of whom are part-time appointees. The AGCO maintains a Skills Matrix which is shared with the Attorney General on an ongoing basis. The intent of the Skills Matrix is to identify a broad range of required experience, skills and qualifications for the Board so that it can continue to provide effective oversight of the agency.

Table 1 reflects members of the Board who served during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, including their original appointment dates.
Total per diems of all appointees for fiscal year 2024–2025: $92,151.86

The AGCO organizational structure is appended.

¹ Heidi Reinhart is the Chair of the iGaming Ontario Board and stepped away from her duties as an AGCO Director in 2025-2026 when iGaming Ontario was established as an independent agency.

The fiscal year 2024–2025, spanning April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025, was a period defined by evolution and strategic renewal for the AGCO. With the previous Strategic Plan concluding at the end of fiscal year 2023–2024, the agency focused its efforts on shaping a refreshed roadmap for the years ahead. This involved significant engagement across the agency, including leadership discussions, collaborative workshops and in-depth planning to identify priorities for the next three-year cycle. These efforts culminated in the development and launch of the AGCO’s new 2025–2028 Strategic Plan.

The 2025–2028 Strategic Plan reinforces the AGCO’s commitment to protecting the consumer, making room for our licensees to innovate, and a common sense regulatory approach. Grounded in an outcome-based approach, it is anchored by four strategic goals: Reduce the Risk of Harm, Foster Industry Sustainability and Innovation, Strengthen Our Organizational Foundation, and Attract, Retain and Develop our People. These priorities reflect the AGCO’s essential role as a nimble, right-sized regulator that balances consumer safety and public interest while fostering a dynamic, competitive business environment. Efforts undertaken in fiscal year 2024–2025 laid the groundwork for the new Strategic Plan, setting a focused and aligned course for the agency over the next three years.

Figure 1: AGCO Strategic Goals

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Further mature our strategies and approaches for combatting illegal markets and enhance proactive harm reduction programs and processes.

Advance the reduction of red-tape and unnecessary regulatory burden, expand our support of innovation in regulated sectors, and increase agility in responding to evolving market trends and needs.

Continue to utilize modern operating models and advance our capabilities, tools and systems in a way that builds digital technology into our core work, providing streamlined and increasingly helpful services to our stakeholders.

Build and strengthen the talent and skills of our team to offer leading services to stakeholders, while championing a culture of diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

Strategic Goals

Reduce the Risk of Harm

Reducing the risk of harm is central to the AGCO’s purpose and mandate. By prioritizing proactive harm reduction and a robust approach to combatting illegal markets, the AGCO is focused on assuring Ontarians that our markets are safe and responsible, while supporting legal operators and licensees by leveraging key partnerships to eliminate illicit actors.

The AGCO will bolster its vigilant approach to monitoring emerging risks across sectors through harm reduction frameworks and standards that reflect industry best practices and integration with our stakeholders’ activities. This includes deepening collaboration and partnership with social responsibility, public health and law enforcement stakeholders to enhance strategies to combat illegal markets and protect minors and communities.

Foster Industry Sustainability and Innovation

The AGCO is focused on fostering competitive, safe and fair markets that balance robust regulatory oversight with minimal regulatory burden and expanded consumer choice. The AGCO is committed to identifying and advocating for the removal of regulatory barriers, expanding support of innovation in regulated sectors and strengthening operational readiness to be responsive to evolving market trends and needs.

Regulatory frameworks can be key enablers to facilitating innovation and healthy participation in our markets. By identifying and responding to emerging needs and mitigating risks, we put customers at the centre of our programs and provide services that reduce unnecessary burdens on businesses by focusing on smart regulation.

Strengthen Our Organizational Foundation

As our existing sectors evolve, diversify and as new sectors emerge, the AGCO remains committed to adapting operational approaches and building upon our strength as an agile, common sense-driven regulator. This commitment extends to strengthening an organizational foundation that reflects the same focus on outcomes, efficiency and innovation that the AGCO uses in its regulatory approach.

Digital enablement of the AGCO’s strategic goals and continued integration of technology into core work and culture is also a key focus. An increasingly digitized operating model improves performance by creating efficiencies, streamlining interactions with stakeholders, and enabling the AGCO to leverage data to support and inform decision-making. This ensures new initiatives and service updates accurately reflect the needs of our stakeholders and provides sophisticated tools to monitor and assess compliance programs, market trends, and customer and employee satisfaction.

Attract, Retain and Develop Our People

Our people play a key role in ensuring the AGCO remains a leading regulator with modern, efficient and effective processes. To ensure the work environment embodies the agility with which we regulate, we will further build and invest in the talent and capabilities of our team to offer best-in-class services to our customers and stakeholders.

By being open to new ways of working, prioritizing employee well-being and ensuring our values translate into our culture, we will attract and retain top talent with in-demand skills and help build an optimal workplace culture to deliver on our mandate. In so doing, we are committed to establishing a team reflective of Ontario’s demographic diversity, prioritizing inclusiveness, and fostering a workplace that is increasingly free of discrimination and provides a safe space for all points of view.

Performance Measurement

The AGCO has developed a series of outcome-based performance measures to evaluate progress against and alignment with the four strategic goals. We will prioritize collecting and analyzing new data sets to establish baselines where needed to enable this critical element of our plan. These measures offer insight into overall direction, highlight successes, identify emerging risks, enable data driven decision-making, and strengthen our ability to be agile and drive continuous improvement in a dynamic environment.

² The fiscal year 2025–2026 will be the first year of monitoring and reporting on performance measures outlined in the 2025–2028 Strategic Plan. Reporting will begin for measures with established baselines, while others will be developed throughout the year. All baselines are expected to be set by fiscal year-end, with targets updated accordingly.

In fiscal year 2024–2025, the AGCO remained committed to delivering on its mandate by supporting the Government of Ontario’s priorities through modern, efficient and data-informed regulatory services. Aligned with direction from the Attorney General’s mandate letter to the AGCO, the AGCO advanced initiatives that promote competitiveness, sustainability and effective expenditure management, while strengthening transparency, accountability and workforce practices. We made significant progress in modernizing the liquor retail marketplace, reducing regulatory burden and enhancing the use of data and digital service delivery. The AGCO also continued working with partners to support a safe and robust cannabis retail market, advance cost recovery considerations for licensing fees and implement outstanding recommendations from the Auditor General’s Value for Money audit.

The following section highlights the achievements made over the fiscal year in support of these priorities and our ongoing commitment to effective and responsible regulation.

Licensing and Registration Activities

The AGCO provides services to a wide group of licensees, registrants and authorization holders. The Operations Division is responsible for reviewing and processing new, renewal and amendment applications for licences, permits, authorizations, and registrations for the sectors regulated by the AGCO.

Highlights for licensing and registration activities in fiscal year 2024–2025 include the expansion of the beverage alcohol retail marketplace, supporting regulatory changes in the cannabis sector allowing the transfer of a Retail Store Authorization (RSA) from one holder of a Retail Operator Licence to another and permitting an RSA holder who has requested cancellation of their RSA to sell cannabis to one other authorization holder. In addition, the AGCO has made several updates to its charitable lottery licensing policies in response to stakeholder requests, encouraging innovation and reducing burden for the sector moving forward.

Education and Compliance Activities

The AGCO promotes compliance with relevant legislation, regulations and Registrar’s Standards to protect public interest and align with government and ministry priorities. The AGCO’s compliance approach is risk-based and outcome-focused.

• Risk-based refers to the regulatory risks underlying the Standards, regulations, laws, and requirements. A risk-based compliance approach focuses the greatest resources on mitigating highest risk areas.
• Outcome-focused emphasizes the results regulated sectors are meant to achieve, rather than prescriptive activities that must be carried out.

The AGCO proactively provides education to stakeholder and licence-holders in all sectors to increase their understanding of regulatory obligations and improve overall compliance.

The following tables reflect the compliance activities undertaken in fiscal year 2024–2025 across the indicated sectors.

Internet gaming compliance conducts a full suite of modern compliance assurance activities that provide reasonable assurance of compliance for regulated entities and technology.

In fiscal year 2024–2025, AGCO focused on the following igaming compliance priorities:

• Responsible Gambling – Protection of players from experiencing harm from gambling.
  • AGCO conducts proactive reviews of operator controls to minimize harm from gambling, which can prompt compliance investigations where risks are identified. When these investigations uncover violations, AGCO works with operators to bring them into compliance.
• Bonus Achievability – Ensuring bonuses offered to players are achievable without incurring excessive losses.
  • AGCO monitors and assesses bonus offers to ensure achievability and limit potential losses to players.
• Sport and Event Betting – Ensuring that integrity safeguards are in place to address risks of match fixing and insider betting.
  • AGCO performs regulatory reviews to ensure that operators only offer betting markets in Ontario with adequate safeguards against match-fixing and insider betting.
• Anti-Money Laundering: Ensuring operators are limiting the regulated market from facilitating money laundering.
  • AGCO uses multiple avenues to ensure operators limit proceeds of crime from entering the regulated market, and monitors for the presence of such monies in the market, including compliance and police efforts.

Gaming Technology Regulation

Ontario’s public confidence in gaming is largely based upon the integrity and fairness of the games and gaming systems in play. AGCO ensures the technical integrity of gaming technology by developing minimum technical standards for gaming products testing and providing approvals of games and related gaming systems. This technology is used throughout the province in all gaming industries and sectors regulated by the AGCO, including casino gaming, charitable gaming, lotteries, and internet gaming.

In fiscal year 2024–2025, the AGCO’s in-house and internationally accredited testing laboratory conducted its annual survey of regulated entities, reaching out to Operators to request their anonymous evaluation and feedback. One-hundred (100) per cent of respondents indicated they are satisfied or very satisfied with the overall service they receive from the testing laboratory. Table 7 captures the various product testing activities conducted by the AGCO.

For internet gaming, the AGCO has modernized the approach for the certification of internet gaming technology against the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming by registered independent test labs.

Investigation and Enforcement Activities

The Investigation and Enforcement Bureau (IEB) is comprised of OPP Officers, fully integrated as a Bureau within the AGCO to streamline, standardize and improve investigative response. In fiscal year 2024–2025, the IEB advanced key priorities in anti-money laundering, anti-human trafficking, igaming investigations, harm reduction, and Bureau Excellence. It focused on proactive enforcement, enhanced collaboration with partners and data-informed investigations to support regulatory compliance across the AGCO’s lines of business. Highlights of these efforts are outlined below:

• Anti-Money Laundering – Detecting and preventing illicit funds from entering Ontario’s regulated gaming sector.
  • The IEB reinforced its anti-money laundering efforts through data analytics, targeted enforcement and intelligence sharing. Using its Suspicious Transaction Report analytical dashboard, high-risk individuals were prioritized and 62 investigative files were assigned in 2024 through the Significant Target Analysis Report Program, achieving an 84% completion rate.
  • To extend its investigative reach, the IEB launched the Physical Surveillance Program, enabling trained members to gather evidence of suspected criminal activity beyond casino floors. In 2024, 31 members carried out 109 surveillance operations across the province in support of investigations into offences such as money laundering, fraud, loan sharking and human trafficking.
• Anti-Human Trafficking – Disrupting trafficking-related activity in Ontario’s gaming environments.
  • The IEB Anti-Human Trafficking Working Group continued to collaborate with the OPP Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario, and municipal partners to support investigations at casinos and racetracks across the province.
  • IEB members provided ongoing training to frontline casino associates, including security, surveillance and hotel staff, to help them identify signs of trafficking and take appropriate action.
• igaming Investigations – Strengthening oversight of Ontario’s regulated online gaming market.
  • In fiscal year 2024–2025, the IEB conducted 1,107 investigations following a notable increase in operator reports of suspicious or criminal activity on regulated online gaming sites. It continued to work closely with the AGCO and iGO to monitor emerging threats and support newly licensed gaming operators in understanding and meeting regulatory expectations.
• Harm Reduction – Supporting player well-being and reducing gambling-related harm.
  • The IEB maintained its proactive approach to harm reduction at Ontario’s land- based casinos and igaming sites through early-detection, enhanced training and collaboration with partners. Efforts focused on identifying high-risk gambling behaviours and promoting access to support resources through timely regulatory or law enforcement interventions.
  • The IEB partnered with the Responsible Gaming Council to explore ways to educate minors on the risks of gambling and to strengthen protections against underage play.
• Bureau Excellence – Fostering a culture of growth, learning and development.
  • Under the Bureau Excellence initiative, a new coaching and mentoring program was introduced for new full-time members, temporary assignees and joint forces officers. The program helps new members build proficiency in their area of focus through assigned coaches and promotes a strong foundational understanding of the AGCO’s lines of business.

The following tables summarize the number and types of investigations conducted by the IEB during fiscal year 2024–2025.

Customer Service Activities

Service excellence continued to be a strategic goal for the AGCO, including strengthening the agency’s service culture and putting the needs of the customer at the centre of what we do.

The AGCO provides services through both digital and non-digital service channels. The AGCO’s Contact Centre handles over 100,000 customer interactions yearly. Table 10 shows interactions via the AGCO’s customer service channels, communications with stakeholders, and members of the Ontario public as of March 2025.

The AGCO established public-facing customer service standards, available on its website, to help customers better understand what they can generally expect when they engage with us. Our target is to meet or exceed these standards at least 80% of the time, and we largely met this target in fiscal year 2024–2025, as detailed in Table 11.

Building on the existing service standards described above, the AGCO established new service standards for application turnaround time for six high-volume application types. Leveraging customer experience data indicating how long it takes from application submission to receipt of a registration, licence or permit, the AGCO was able to establish and communicate these standards to help applicants better understand service times as well as the common factors that may contribute to delays. Our target is to meet or exceed these standards at least 80% of the time, and this was successfully achieved in fiscal year 2024–2025, as illustrated in Table 12.

In addition, the AGCO leveraged Human-Centred Design principles and service design methodologies to deliver new and better service experiences, including the successful redevelopment of its public-facing website in fiscal year 2024–2025. Using the Ontario Digital Service standard methodology, the project applied a user-centred approach throughout every phase, guided by extensive user research to ensure the design, taxonomy, and functionality met the needs of the AGCO’s diverse user groups. Internal and external stakeholders were engaged through interviews, consultations and testing, helping shape the website to meet real user needs most effectively.

³ The category “Miscellaneous Compliance Activity” may include, but is not limited to, compliance activity driven by intelligence or investigation activity, the Mystery Shopper Program (where applicable) or criminal charges.

⁴ Education activities related to land-based gaming, charitable gaming and raffles are not separately reported in this table due to the mature control in place and ongoing education provided through regular inspections and technical support.

⁵ In fiscal year 2024–2025, we did not deliver a scheduled in-person appointment. Customers can complete 100% of AGCO services online, and immediate support is offered over the telephone as an alternative to scheduling a visit to the AGCO corporate office.

⁶ A drop in complaint service levels occurred because many Contact Centre agents were reassigned to other parts of the agency to support the Liquor Retail Expansion initiative. Recruitment and training of new agents were required, impacting complaint handling times until the new agents were fully trained and operational.

The AGCO continued to make effort to improve financial decision-making frameworks for long- term financial stability. The establishment of a Finance and Risk Management Division aims to enhance financial accountability and strategic capacity for effective financial planning.

In fiscal year 2024–2025, the overall increase in Salaries and Wages is mainly due to annual salary adjustments and increase in staffing to support the Liquor Retail Expansion and the Ontario Deposit Return Program. The increase in other operational expenditures (i.e., Services, T&C) is primarily driven by higher cost for I&IT cloud-based services and additional seat costs associated with staffing increases to support the Liquor Retail Expansion rollout.

Revenue comprises of licence fees, regulatory charges and cost recoveries. The increase of revenue in fiscal year 2024–2025 is primarily driven by the Liquor Retail Expansion project, along with higher recoveries resulting from increased regulatory activities in recoverable sectors (i.e., commercial gaming) and an overall increase in gross expenditures.

Capital spending in fiscal year 2024–2025 is primarily attributed to enhancements made to the iAGCO platform to improve flexibility, simplify integration with diverse systems, and promote more efficient processes. The modernization efforts are expected to enhance user experience, boost search engine optimization, and significantly strengthen web and system security. Additionally, the increase reflects investments in the refresh of IT hardware and network infrastructure.

⁷ Of the $13,822 (2024 - $11,360) in cost recoveries from iGaming Ontario (iGO) recorded on AGCO’s financial statements, $13,303 (2024 - $10,827) pertains to direct expenditures (i.e., salaries/benefits of iGO employees and vendor invoices) that were incurred by AGCO on behalf of iGO and were subsequently reimbursed. These costs, along with the corresponding recoveries, are excluded from the chart above.

Established through the Horse Racing Licence Act, 2015, the Horse Racing Appeal Panel (HRAP) is an adjudicative body that is mandated to consider appeals of decisions made under the Rules of Racing.

The HRAP was established as an institutionally independent and impartial adjudicative body that operates at arm’s length from the AGCO. Members are appointed to the HRAP by the AGCO Board of Directors. The HRAP is also provided operational and administrative support by the HRAP Secretariat, which is a unit within the Corporate Affairs, Policy, Planning and Projects Division of the AGCO. The HRAP Secretariat is operated as a standalone unit and is completely separate from other parts of the AGCO organization to support the institutional independence of the HRAP. Although the HRAP Chair, Vice-Chair and Panel members are appointed by the AGCO Board of Directors, the AGCO has no oversight role or involvement in adjudicative matters overseen by the Panel and has no authority or jurisdiction to intervene in individual cases.

Panel Members

HRAP members are appointed by the AGCO Board of Directors based on experience and qualifications and through a competitive, merit-based process. There is broad representation from the various sectors of the industry on the Panel, with various members possessing a background or experience in law, veterinary medicine and pharmacology, governance and administrative justice.

This past year saw a new Vice-Chair appointed, as well as two new members added on April 1, 2024, and an additional two on April 1, 2025. This renewal ensures the continued expertise and evolution of the HRAP as it approaches its 10th anniversary.

Table 1: Horse Racing Appeal Panel Member Appointments and Terms

Year in Review

The HRAP received fifty-two (52) Notices of Appeal and held forty-two (42) appeal hearings. Stay hearings and pre-hearing conferences added an additional 12 hearing days. Fifty-seven decisions were released. All matters were responded to within policy standards (such as “B” hearings being addressed within 45 days) and, in doing so, the HRAP continued to operate without any backlog of cases. In the “A” hearings stream, which are usually complex cases with significant consequences, regular pre-hearing conferences have helped shorten the hearing process.

Throughout the fiscal year 2024–2025, hearings continued to be offered primarily through a virtual format. All “A” level hearings are automatically scheduled as virtual, while “B” hearing parties have the option to have the matter in-person or virtual. Out of 42 appeal hearings held in the fiscal year only two (2) were in-person, and no Stay hearing or pre-hearing conference was held in person. These hearings are accessible through a secure Zoom platform and facilitated by the HRAP Secretariat. Virtual training is available through the Secretariat to all participants in the electronic hearing process.

Table 2: Statistical Report for Fiscal Year 2024–2025

Motions

Hearings

The iGaming Ontario Annual Report is an appendix to the AGCO Annual Report. Follow this link to see the iGaming Ontario Fiscal Year 2024–2025 Annual Report.