The trade advocacy group that represents several provincial Canadian governmental lottery corporations has a new leader.
The Canadian Lottery Coalition (CLC) announced on Wednesday that former Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) communications director Molly Cormier started work as its new Executive Director effective March 30, 2026. Cormier replaces the previous Executive Director, Will Hill, who left the position late last year.
The CLC was formed in 2021 as a partnership between numerous crown corporations across Canada. Its current membership consists of:
- ALC
- British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)
- Loto-Québec
- Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL)
Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan was also a member until December 2025, when it took the decision to step away from the coalition in December 2025. Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) was a founding member, but left in early 2024 amid its process of legalizing and regulating commercial online sports betting and casino gaming.
Ontario, whose commercial iGaming launch in April 2022 has served as a blueprint for the Alberta market that is slated to launch on July 13, has never been represented in the coalition.
Cormier and CLC place player health at forefront
Cormier is a former Government of New Brunswick staffer who spent the last decade working for ALC in a range of communications roles, most recently serving as the multi-provincial crown corporation’s Director of Brand and Communications.
The CLC said in a press release that she brings extensive experience in public relations, marketing, and policy engagement within Canada’s regulated gaming sector and has worked closely with governments and regulators on responsible gambling and consumer protection.
“Molly brings the experience, leadership and judgment the Coalition needs as governments and regulators confront growing challenges around gambling advertising and consumer protection,” said ALC President and Chief Executive Officer Dallas McCready, who is a member of the CLC Executive Board. “She understands the urgency of supporting player health, especially in the face of clear gaps in federal law and enforcement.”
Cormier said that she joins the CLC at a time when the need for “clear, coordinated national policy” to protect player health across Canada has never been greater.
“My priorities will be to address gaps in federal legislation and regulation related to the promotion and advertising of online gambling, particularly sports betting; respond to the continued proliferation of illegal online gambling websites in Canada; and strengthen collaboration with governments, regulators and industry stakeholders,” she added.
“Canadians should be able to clearly distinguish between legal, accountable gambling options and offshore sites that operate outside Canadian and provincial laws and public safeguards.”
Lottery coalition notes fights on several fronts
The CLC’s public mission statement is for its member lotteries, all of which hold monopolies over government-authorized online gambling in their respective provinces, to work together to protect Canadian gamblers, prioritize the prevention of gambling-related harms, generate revenues for their provinces, and reinforce their gaming authority.
In Wednesday’s release announcing Cormier as Executive Director, the coalition specifically mentioned concerns over the perceived spread of online gambling advertising in the wake of Canada legalizing single‑event sports betting in August 2021 and Ontario launching its open iGaming market. It also stressed that it supports Bill S-211, the National Framework on Sports Betting Advertising Act, which was passed by the Senate last fall and received an overwhelming yes vote at second reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, last year, CLC took an unprecedented approach to combating offshore gambling sites when MBLL, on behalf of the coalition’s members, sued prominent offshore casino and sportsbook Bodog in a Manitoba court. The lotteries were successful in obtaining a court order that deemed the Caribbean-based site to be operating and marketing illegally in that province and directed it to cease offering or advertising its products there.
“The reasoning of the Court’s decision in Manitoba would apply in every Coalition jurisdiction,” said the CLC in the new release. Hill told Canadian Gaming Business last year that the CLC would continue its efforts to shut down similar unauthorized operators “by every means necessary”.
CLC challenging Ontario player pooling ruling
One of Cormier’s immediate focuses will be the Supreme Court appeal regarding international player pooling for peer-to-peer online games such as daily fantasy sports and online poker.
After an Ontario Court of Appeal opinion determined that it would be legal under the Criminal Code’s gaming provisions for Ontario to offer international liquidity, the CLC members have contested the issue in Canada’s highest court. One of the CLC’s longstanding complaints, re-stated in filings in the Supreme Court case, is that its members believe that Ontario-licensed operators should not be allowed to advertise in other provinces, where governments do not authorize those brands to do business.
“The Coalition will continue to advocate for policy approaches that put responsible gambling, consumer protection and regulatory integrity first,” added the coalition in the April 22 release.
