Raffle licences in New Brunswick, 2026
- Verdict: A registered charity can run a raffle in New Brunswick, but any online ticket sale needs a separate electronic-raffle licence AND a registered supplier from the regulator's approved list. Zeffy is not on that list, so Zeffy cannot be the channel for the raffle-ticket sale itself.
- What works: Paper tickets sold in person, under a Class A ($50) or Class B ($20) licence from Gaming Control and Licensing Services. Class B covers prize pools of $500 or less; everything above that is Class A. Chase the Ace is its own $50 licence.
- What doesn't: Selling raffle tickets online through a platform that is not a Class 4 registered charitable gaming supplier. Selling to buyers outside New Brunswick. Delegating the draw to a non-member. Advancing credit to a player.
- Right fit when: You are a New Brunswick registered charity or religious organization running a raffle, 50/50 or Chase the Ace with a prize pool under $150,000 per draw.
- Worth considering if: You have 30 days of lead time, at least 15% of gross proceeds will go to your charitable purpose, and you can keep the raffle money separate from your general operating funds.
Table of contents
New Brunswick has the lowest raffle-licence threshold in Canada. The moment your total prize value passes $500, you need a Class A licence. Almost every real raffle crosses that line, which means almost every real raffle in this province is a $50 Class A application, filed 30 days before you sell a ticket.
This guide walks a treasurer or volunteer through the 2026 rules from the regulator's own pages: the two licence classes, the $150,000 prize cap, the separate electronic-raffle licence, the published list of registered suppliers, and where the money has to sit while the draw is running.
Do you need a licence at all?
Almost certainly yes. New Brunswick is unusual: the licence-required line sits at just $500 in total prize value. Nova Scotia's is $4,000. PEI's is $5,000. Alberta's and BC's are $20,000. Ontario's is $50,000. If your raffle offers so much as a $600 gift basket, you are already past the New Brunswick threshold and you need a Class A licence.
Two other things have to be true before you can hold a licence at all:
- You are a charitable or religious organization, and the raffle proceeds go to a charitable or religious purpose. Under the Charitable Gaming Licensees Regulation (NB Reg 2021-79), a minimum of 15% of gross proceeds from the licensed lottery scheme must be used for the objectives you gave when you applied.
- You give the regulator time. Applications may require up to a 30-day lead time for processing, so start a month before you plan to sell tickets.
For a small nonprofit: unless your entire prize is a single small item under $500, you are running a Class A raffle. Budget the $50 fee and the 30 days, and don't try to squeeze in under Class B by shrinking your prize.
Class A vs Class B: the $500 split
New Brunswick's licence classes are set in the Raffle Licensing Policy and confirmed in NB Reg 2021-79, section 5.
|
| Prize threshold | Total prize value greater than $500 per licensing period | Total prize value $500 or less per licensing period |
| Licence fee | $50 | $20 |
| Where to apply | Gaming Control and Licensing Services Branch, or a Service New Brunswick office | Gaming Control and Licensing Services Branch, or a Service New Brunswick office (Class B can be issued at an SNB counter, but the licensing authority is still provincial) |
| Lead time | Submit 30 days before the gaming event | Submit 30 days before the gaming event |
| Prize cap | $150,000 per draw | $500 per licensing period (by definition) |
For a small nonprofit: the Class B path exists mostly for a single small-prize draw at a one-off event. Anything with a real prize pool goes Class A. It is $30 more and the paperwork is the same.
The four gates for a New Brunswick raffle
Every Canadian raffle has to clear four separate legal gates, in order. It is easy to pass the first three and still fail the fourth, which is the gate most small-nonprofit guides skip.
- 1. Can a registered charity run a raffle in New Brunswick? Yes, if it is a charitable or religious organization running the raffle for a charitable or religious purpose, and it holds a Class A or Class B licence.
- 2. Can tickets be sold online? Only if you hold a separate electronic-raffle licence AND you use a registered charitable gaming supplier from the regulator's approved list. See the online-sales section below.
- 3. Can tickets be paid for by card or electronically? The regulation prohibits a licensee from advancing credit to a player or accepting personal or third-party cheques (NB Reg 2021-79, section 12). It does not affirmatively authorize buyer card payment. Card payment is realistically only implied through the registered-platform route. Confirm with Gaming Control and Licensing Services before you promise it to buyers.
- 4. Does the platform itself need to be licensed? Yes. This is the gate most small nonprofits get wrong. See gate 4 in detail in the online-sales section. Under NB Reg 2021-78 the definition of "electronic gaming equipment" includes any software used for the sale of a ticket, so the platform has to be a Class 4 registered charitable gaming supplier.
For a small nonprofit: gate 4 is the trap. You can have a valid Class A licence, take card payments in good faith, and still be in breach because the platform you used is not on the regulator's approved list.
Chase the Ace in New Brunswick
Chase the Ace is a separately-named licence type in New Brunswick. Under NB Reg 2021-79 section 5, a Chase the Ace licence costs $50, regardless of prize pool size. It is not a variant of Class A or Class B; it is its own line in the regulation.
The same rules that apply to any New Brunswick raffle apply here: 30-day lead time, $150,000 maximum per draw, at least 15% of gross proceeds to the charitable purpose, no ticket sales outside the province, and no delegation of the conduct and management of the lottery to a non-member.
For a small nonprofit: a weekly Chase the Ace is one of the few multi-week fundraisers a Class A licence covers cleanly. Just be honest with volunteers about the 30-day lead time before week one.
50/50 draws in New Brunswick
A 50/50 draw is a raffle. New Brunswick doesn't carve it out as a lighter category. Which class you need depends on the prize:
- If the projected total winnings could exceed $500, you need a Class A licence ($50).
- If you can cap the pot at $500 or less, a Class B licence ($20) is enough.
Practically, any 50/50 with more than a handful of buyers will pass $500 quickly, so plan for Class A. If you want to sell 50/50 tickets online, for example through the intermission of a livestreamed event, the online-sales rules in the next section apply and you also need the separate electronic-raffle licence.
For a small nonprofit: paper-ticket 50/50 draws at an in-person event are the simplest legal path in New Brunswick. There is no shame in staying paper.
Selling tickets online in New Brunswick
New Brunswick treats online ticket sales as an electronic raffle, which needs its own licence on top of your Class A or Class B. From the Raffle Licensing Policy, section 9:
Licensees wishing to conduct and manage an electronic raffle must obtain a separate licence. Licensees may only use electronic gaming equipment provided by a registered charitable gaming supplier as approved by the Registrar. A listing of registered charitable gaming suppliers is made available through the JPS website. Electronic gaming equipment must comply with the technical standards established by the Registrar. A contractual agreement established between the licensee and the registered charitable gaming supplier must be submitted with the application.
Three things follow from this:
- 1. Your platform must be on the published list. New Brunswick, unlike Nova Scotia, publishes its registered suppliers. As of the last check, the registered charitable gaming suppliers were: AscendFS Canada, Bump Worldwide, Causable Inc., Raffle Systems Inc., Rafflebox Technologies, S.O. Asher Consultants Ltd., Stride Management Corp., Tap50:50 Event Consultants, and TLF Fundraising Solutions. Confirm the current list with Gaming Control and Licensing Services before you sign anything.
- 2. You submit the supplier contract with the application. The regulator wants to see the contractual agreement between you and the supplier at the time you apply, not afterwards.
- 3. Ticket sales outside New Brunswick are prohibited. NB Reg 2021-79 section 8 requires that a player either be a resident of the province, or physically present in the province while playing. Your platform has to be able to enforce that.
The regulation defines the trigger broadly. Under NB Reg 2021-78 section 2, "electronic gaming equipment" means "any computer hardware or software used for the sale of a ticket, selection of a winner or distribution of a prize in an electronic raffle." That definition sweeps in ticketing software, not just draw-selection software.
No payment-only carve-out has been published for New Brunswick. Some provinces (Quebec, Saskatchewan, PEI, Newfoundland) allow online payment with a hand-issued paper ticket outside their electronic-raffle rules. New Brunswick's published policy does not. If a workflow like that is important to you, confirm with Gaming Control and Licensing Services before you build around it.
For a small nonprofit: unless your prize pool is big enough to justify a supplier contract, running the raffle on paper at in-person events is the legal shortest path.
Where the raffle money has to land
This is the section most guides skip and the one treasurers report hitting after the fact. Provinces vary: BC and Alberta require a dedicated gaming account above certain thresholds, Ontario requires a designated lottery trust account, Quebec requires separate accounting. New Brunswick's Raffle Licensing Policy expects a clean paper trail:
- Proceeds are the licensee's, not the platform's. The regulator holds your organization responsible for the conduct and management of the lottery. Money from ticket sales should reach a bank account controlled by the organization, with records that show every ticket sold and every prize paid.
- Records kept for six years. The regulation requires licensees to retain financial records for six years.
- At least 15% of gross proceeds to the charitable purpose. This is a floor, not a target. Practically it means you cannot use the raffle to break even on unrelated costs.
- The licence must be posted in a conspicuous place where the lottery is being held.
For a small nonprofit: even if the regulation does not require a separate bank account by name, keeping the raffle proceeds in their own account or sub-ledger is the cheapest way to survive a records request six years later. Set that up before you sell ticket one.
Can you use Zeffy to sell raffle tickets online in New Brunswick?
Short answer: no, not for the raffle ticket sale itself.
New Brunswick requires the platform used to sell electronic raffle tickets to be a Class 4 registered charitable gaming supplier under NB Reg 2021-78, with equipment approved by the Registrar. The province publishes the list of registered suppliers. Zeffy is not on that list. That means Zeffy cannot be the channel for the raffle-ticket sale under a New Brunswick electronic-raffle licence.
What Zeffy is genuinely useful for around a New Brunswick raffle event:
- Event tickets for a fundraising evening where the raffle happens in person. See Zeffy's event ticketing.
- General donations collected alongside the raffle, on their own donation form.
- Automated donation receipts for the donation portion. See donation receipts. Raffle-ticket purchases are not tax-deductible in Canada, so they do not receive donation receipts either way.
- Donor records in one place, so the people who came out for the raffle are still reachable next year. See donor management.
Zeffy is trusted by 100K+ nonprofits who have raised $2B+ on the platform, and it is free: no platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever. That applies to the pieces above. It does not turn Zeffy into a registered gaming supplier; no platform can turn itself into that without going through the Registrar.
Who regulates raffles in New Brunswick?
Gaming Control and Licensing Services, a branch of the Department of Public Safety. You can reach them at 506-453-7472 or DPS-MSP.Information@gnb.ca. New Brunswick's own 7/2025 Raffle Licensing Policy PDF still refers to "Justice and Public Safety" and the "Gaming, Liquor and Security Licensing Branch"; the web pages use the current naming, and both routes reach the same office.
Are 50/50 raffles legal in New Brunswick?
Yes, for charitable or religious organizations that hold the appropriate raffle licence. A 50/50 with prize potential above $500 needs a Class A licence ($50); one capped at $500 or under can run under a Class B licence ($20).
Can I sell raffle tickets outside New Brunswick?
No. NB Reg 2021-79 section 8 restricts play to residents of New Brunswick, or to players physically present in the province at the time of play. Your online platform, if you use one, has to enforce that.
Do minors need to be excluded from raffle purchases?
New Brunswick's Raffle Licensing Policy states: "Unless designated in the licensee's rules of play, there is no age restriction to participate in raffle lottery schemes." If you want an age restriction, put it in your published rules of play.
Can I outsource running the raffle to a volunteer group or a supplier?
No. The Raffle Licensing Policy is explicit: "Conduct and management of the lottery must not be delegated to another organization or to a person who is not a member of the organization." A registered charitable gaming supplier can provide the platform for an electronic raffle, but the licensee still conducts and manages the draw.
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