gambling in alberta - Research Services - University of Lethbridge

not’ provinces and spends a portion of its revenue outside of Canada (various foreign ventures
and debt financing/repayment). (Note: Alberta has been debt free since 2005).
Community ‘Charity’ Group Disbursement
Figure 28 (p. 125) shows that the thousands of different community ‘charity’ groups spread
throughout the province have the second largest amount of gambling revenue to disburse. All
of this money is spent to support the primary functions of the community group as well as
internal administrative costs of providing the gambling. Thus, similar to provincial government
gambling revenue disbursement, it is fair to say that that the citizens of Alberta are again the
primary recipients and beneficiaries of ‘community group’ revenue disbursement.
First Nations Disbursement
The disbursement of monies from First Nations gambling revenues (after commitments and
commissions have been paid) is covered in the First Nations section of this report. Here, too,
these disbursements represent money spent on (First Nations) citizens of Alberta.
Private Operator Disbursement
Private operators in Alberta receive a relatively small portion of overall gambling revenue
compared to many other (non-Canadian) jurisdictions (roughly 16 – 17% since 2001). A sizeable
portion of these profits are spent on wages, primarily for locally employed people to staff the
casinos, VLT bars, and lottery retail outlets (all of which benefits Albertans). In other
jurisdictions it would be instructive to further establish how much of the remaining profits leave
the jurisdiction to shareholders (i.e., for casinos) and/or to purchase out-of-jurisdiction
supplies. However, in Alberta, the amounts involved are too small (relative to overall Alberta
gambling revenue) to be consequential.
Horse Racing Disbursement
Figure 28 (p. 125) illustrates that a comparatively small amount of money is available for
disbursement by the horse racing industry. All of this money is spent in Alberta to support
Alberta horse breeding, raising and racing. Two recent studies of the economic impacts of
horse racing in Alberta shed light on how these revenues are disbursed (Econometric Research,
2001; Serecon Management, 2009).
Federal Government Disbursement
The roughly $30 to $35 million in Alberta gambling revenue provided to the federal government
each year is money leaving Alberta, representing a potential economic loss. However, a portion
of this is returned in the form of federal services. In any case, the amounts involved are fairly
insignificant (roughly 1.3% of total gambling revenue).
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