sweepstakes.ca Legal Compliance and Strategic Implementation of Sweepstakes in Canada

Closed
cmi Media Inc.
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Jeff Goodfield
Founder
(24)
4
Project
Academic experience
120 hours per learner
Learner
Anywhere
Advanced level

Project scope

Categories
Law and policy
Skills
business objectives consumer protection scalability regulatory compliance sales payment processing purchasing selling techniques research operations
Details

The main goal of this project is to help sweepstakes.ca understand and comply with the laws and regulations governing sweepstakes in Canada, enabling them to set up their sweepstakes in a legally compliant manner while still achieving their business objectives. Additionally, the project aims to provide creative solutions and recommendations that allow sweepstakes.ca to navigate the legal landscape effectively and run their sweepstakes successfully while adhering to Canadian laws and regulations.

Deliverables

1.   Research Canadian Sweepstakes Laws: Students should thoroughly research the laws and regulations governing sweepstakes in Canada. This includes understanding federal laws, as well as any provincial or territorial regulations that may apply. Key areas to explore include contest/sweepstakes definitions, licensing requirements, rules for skill-based vs. chance-based contests, prize restrictions, advertising guidelines, and consumer protection laws.


2.   Identify Compliance Requirements: Once the sweepstakes laws have been researched, students should compile a list of specific compliance requirements that sweepstakes.ca must meet. This may include obtaining any necessary permits or licenses, ensuring eligibility criteria are met, developing clear contest rules, adhering to prize value limits, complying with privacy laws, and following advertising standards.


3.   FOR PROFIT -- Analyze 80eighty.com:

 

Students should thoroughly review the operations of 80eighty.com, an American organization running sweepstakes with product sales that in turn get entries to win a sweepstakes. While the Canadian laws may differ, analyzing their approach can provide insights into creative ways to structure the sweepstakes that align with the legal framework in Canada. This includes examining their eligibility requirements, prize fulfillment process, product sales structure, and any disclaimers or disclosures they provide.

 

Other FOR PROFIT websites of interest but do not offer product purchase, simply a sweepstakes ticket;


Best of the Best -- https://botb.com

Dream Car Giveaways -- https://dreamcargiveaways.co.uk

 

4.   NOT FOR PROFIT; PARTNERING WITH A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION -- Analyze onecountry.com:

 

Students should thoroughly review the operations of onecountry.com, an American organization running sweepstakes with profits going to charity. This is distinctly different then the above (3) but is also a viable alternative as a stand-alone or in conjunction with. While the Canadian laws may differ, analyzing their approach can provide insights into creative ways to structure the sweepstakes that align with the legal framework in Canada working with a charitable organization. This includes examining how much monies sweepstakes.ca can receive for managing and operating this infrastructure, their eligibility requirements, donation framework, prize fulfillment process, and any disclaimers or disclosures they provide.

 

Other NOT FOR PROFIT websites of interest;


Prizeo – https://prizeo.com


Prizeo keeps 10% of the net contest revenue (after payment processing costs) and remaining 90% goes to the designated charity. It is a service, offering celebrities and charities a technology platform to run sweepstakes. This includes access to highly scalable technology, automated payment processing, and sweepstakes administration. You can enter with just a small donation to the celebrity's chosen cause and the more you donate, the more chances you have to win! You can also always enter for free (no donation or purchase necessary).

 

OMAZE (now closed) previously operated a similar business model; see for example -- https://omaze.com/products/custom-ford-bronco

 

Dream Giveaway -- https://dreamgiveaway.com

 

5.   Determine Feasibility in Canada: Based on the research conducted, students should assess the feasibility of implementing a similar sweepstakes model in Canada. They should identify any legal barriers or challenges that sweepstakes.ca may face in offering big-ticket items as prizes and selling associated products. This assessment should consider compliance with sweepstakes laws, consumer protection regulations, prize value limits, and any additional restrictions specific to Canada.


6.   Provide Recommendations and Mitigation Strategies: Finally, students should provide recommendations and mitigation strategies to ensure sweepstakes.ca operates legally and responsibly. This may involve suggesting modifications to the sweepstakes structure, such as incorporating skill-based elements to comply with chance-based contest regulations, setting prize value limits, implementing clear terms and conditions, and utilizing disclaimers to avoid misleading consumers. Additionally, they can suggest methods for promoting the sweepstakes within legal boundaries, such as compliant advertising and promotional strategies.


 

Furthermore, areas to insure that are addressed include but are not limited to;

 

**Define the "No Purchase Necessary" requirement: ** According to Canadian law, you must allow people to enter the sweepstakes without making a purchase. This is usually done by providing an alternate method of entry (AMOE), like mailing in an entry form or a digital free entry form. Free entries in compliance with equal dignity requirements.

 

**Selling tangible products for extra entries: ** Since the law in Canada requires free entry, you must provide an option for people to get THE SAME extra entries without purchasing your product. Equal dignity means, "as long as you provide a free method for people to get extra entries, you should be able to also give extra entries for purchasing your product(s).

Mentorship

Students will work closely with Jeff who is supervising and available for questions. This will also include occasional progress meetings where adjustments to the students' tasks and duties can be made if necessary.

About the company

Company
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
2 - 10 employees
Marketing & advertising, Entertainment, Business & management, Sales, Technology

The goal of this project is to acquire more users and generate traffic to Sweepstakes.ca

We connect our audience with advertisers to boost advocacy + social sharing by tagging sweepstakes, giveaways + pop-up promos. Our Canadian audience can surf the website, dream big and win prizes and experiences!