Loto-Québec’s revenue fell slightly year-over-year but the crown corporation still took nearly $3 billion for the 2023-24 fiscal year, its second-best year since 2006.

In its full-year report, Loto-Québec noted that After payouts of $1.5 billion to winners, the company made a total of $1.5 billion in net income. Those profits were fully reinvested into the province’s communities through the Québec government.

Of the $2.93 billion revenue, $1.1 billion was generated by the province’s casinos and bingo halls. It’s a new record in that vertical despite the fact a months-long dispute affected operations at four casinos in 2023. Another $958.8 million came from the provincial lottery operations and still another $885.5 million was brought in by what the organization calls “gaming establishments.” That category includes video lottery terminals in bars and restaurants, event betting and Kinzo and network bingo.

Last year, Loto-Québec’s net income was just shy of $1.6 million. Its total revenue of $2.93 billion is down $66.3 million year-over-year but still the fourth-highest in history.

Bergeron also noted that the World Lottery Association renewed the crown corporation’s Level 4 responsible gambling certification, the highest recognition available from the WLA in the industry.

“It’s an excellent year,” said President and CEO Jean-François Bergeron. “This can be explained in large part by better management of our expenses. Thanks to our team’s outstanding work, we achieved our budget target. Our teams worked diligently to diversify our offering and ensure its responsible and efficient management. As a result, we maintained our ratio of total expenses to revenues at the desired level.”

“Our achievements over the past year were numerous, including our exciting announcement that a hotel will be built on the Casino de Montréal grounds,” Bergeron added. “Once completed, this major project will cement the casino’s status as one of North America’s top entertainment destinations.”

The Loto-Québec chief also stressed that the organization’s online gaming vertical continues to grow its market share “despite the efforts of illegal operators.”

“Our market share is growing,” Bergeron said. “We’ve seen growth this year of between 8 and 10%. We’re improving our offer. We’ve added new online games. We’ve also invested in education, we’ve run campaigns on responsible gambling.”

Loto-Québec, which holds a monopoly on legal online gaming in La Belle Province, has signed a number of new partners recently including Wazdan and Play’n GO. 

In the background, the question of whether Québec may open its doors lingers.

Last summer, a variety of operators banded together to form the Quebec Online Gaming Coalition (QOGC), an organisation focused on developing a new regulatory framework for the industry. Like Alberta is doing right now, the QOGC has pointed to the early success of the Ontario market as evidence of what a well-run commercial gambling market can do for a province.

The coalition’s efforts have been supported by major sports leagues including the NBA, the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS). In March of this year, the QOGC chastised the Québec government for not reaping the benefits of an open online gaming market, which it said would yield a base figure of around $230 million annually for the province.

Québec reported an $11 billion deficit for the last fiscal year.