BCLC committed to improving operations after government review

In response to the government of British Columbia’s Internal Audit and Advisory Services Review of the provincial lottery operator, Canada’s British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) said that it has partially completed nine recommendations and is acting on the remaining 16 recommendations.

The review was undertaken to ensure that the BCLC was being well managed and adhering to the government’s mandate. It was completed in October of this year and made 25 recommendations to improve gaming operations, player and public protection, and internal operations to help strengthen BCLC.

“The report highlighted a number of strengths in BCLC’s business including oversight of gaming operations and compliance, as well as a number of areas that clearly need improvement,” said BCLC board chair Bud Smith. “The board and management are fully committed to taking immediate action to implement all recommendations.”

The review found that the lottery’s gaming operations had been effective in generating a steady revenue stream for the province, approximately CAD$2.1bn in annual net win, but that there were opportunities for improvement.

“BCLC needs a plan to address challenges in the lottery division with aging equipment and IT systems, and a declining customer base,” said the review. “BCLC should review the effectiveness of the service provider commission structure, as well as institute performance standards that would allow for better monitoring of the service providers.”

Among the recommendations were that BCLC should establish critical success factors for its lottery retailers in order to evaluate performance and report on results, and that it should ensure that agreements with service providers include comprehensive performance standards.

The BCLC board accepted all recommendations and said it was committed to implementing each of them. To date, it has partially completed nine recommendations and is acting on the remaining 16 recommendations.

Three additional recommendations were directed at the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Brand (GPEB), the regulatory body overseeing the activities of the BCLC, and the provincial government.

This includes the reconstitution of the human resources division through the establishment of a new senior management team including the recruitment for a new vice-president of human resources, to be based at the Kamloops office.

In addition, BCLC has made significant changes to its business planning, cost management, procurement and performance management framework.

“The insights provided through this review will enable BCLC to proactively make a number of additional improvements to the work our organization has already done over the last year,” said Jim Lightbody, interim president and CEO of the BCLC. “We will continue to work collaboratively with the Government, the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch and PSEC (Public Sector Employer’s Council) to build on our solid foundation.”  

The review of BCLC by the Internal Audit and Advisory Services can be downloaded in full here.