Verdict. Yes, a registered charity or religious organisation on Prince Edward Island can sell raffle tickets online in 2026, but only under the new Charitable Lotteries Act that took effect on 30 June 2026, and only if the website is approved by the Registrar. If the site is an Electronic Raffle System, it also needs GLI-31 (or equivalent) certification. Zeffy is not on any published Canadian gaming supplier registry, so it cannot act as your approved ticket-sale system.
What works. Raffles up to $5,000 in total prize value: no fee, one-page form, licence issued at the counter at any Access PEI location. Above $5,000: a $25 fee and a three-page application filed at least two weeks before ticket sales open. A payment-only online workflow is written into Schedule C of the Regulations: take payment online, generate the ticket manually, confirm the buyer is in PEI.
What doesn't. Selling tickets to buyers outside PEI. Automating anything beyond payment and receipt on the payment-only route. Using an unapproved website. Awarding alcohol or cannabis as prizes. Selling to anyone under 19.
Best for. Small volunteer-run charities and religious organisations that want a legal way to accept card payment for a raffle without buying a certified Electronic Raffle System.
Worth considering if. Your total prize pool sits below $5,000, your buyers are all on the Island, and you can hand-generate and email or mail each ticket after payment clears.
Table of contents
What changed on 30 June 2026
Prince Edward Island replaced its entire charitable lottery framework five weeks before this page was rewritten. If you are reading anything about PEI raffles published before summer 2026, it describes law that no longer applies.
From the Government of Prince Edward Island: "Effective June 30, 2026, the Charitable Lotteries Act (the 'Act') and the Charitable Lotteries Regulations (the 'Regulations'), will replace the Lottery Schemes Order as the applicable Prince Edward Island legislation." The proclamation (EC2026-645) confirmed the same in-force date.
What that means for a small charity:
- The regulator is now the Registrar under the Charitable Lotteries Act, administered by the Financial and Consumer Services Division, Department of Justice and Public Safety. It is not the PEI Lotteries Commission. The Act expressly carves the Commission out.
- There are now four licence types: bingo, casino night, raffle, and a game of chance (including games of mixed chance and skill).
- Raffle fees are split at $5,000. Under $5,000, there is no fee at all and the licence is issued at the counter at any Access PEI location. Above $5,000, the fee is $25 and the application must be filed at least two weeks before ticket sales open.
- The minimum age of play is now 19. Alcohol and cannabis are barred as prizes. Both are new.
- Schedule C of the Regulations contains the clearest payment-only online carve-out in Canada, and the section below spells it out.
For a small nonprofit on the Island: if you ran a raffle under the old Lottery Schemes Order, do not assume the process you followed last year still applies. The forms, the regulator, the fees, the age limit, and the online rules have all changed.
The four questions, answered
Every raffle question in Canada comes down to four gates. Here they are for PEI.
1. May a registered charity run a raffle at all?
Yes. Under Schedule E of the Regulations, "the applicant must be a charitable or religious organization; and the lottery proceeds must be used for a charitable or religious object or purpose. For-profit businesses, government and individuals are not eligible for a licence." A licence is required for all four lottery types, including raffles of any size.
2. May tickets be sold online?
Yes, but only if you disclose the intended online use in your application and the Registrar approves it. From the guidance: "if an applicant intends to use electronic raffle system or other online component (such as the Internet), to sell tickets, select a winner or distribute a prize, the applicant must disclose the intended use in the licence application and obtain approval from the Registrar." The website itself must be approved by the Registrar, even on the simpler payment-only route.
3. May tickets be paid for by card or electronic transfer?
Yes, conditionally. The guidance says: "If the licensee accepts electronic payments, the payment system processing online sales must meet recognized standards." Electronic fund transfers are allowed for ticket entries and prize payment, but the transfer must be confirmed before the draw and the transaction reports have to be retained.
4. Does the platform itself need to be licensed?
This is the question our pages usually skip, and in Canada it is often the decisive one. In PEI the answer depends on what the platform does.
If the platform is an Electronic Raffle System (ERS), yes. Schedule C defines an ERS as "electronic gaming equipment used by a licensee to conduct and manage a lottery scheme that is a raffle, and includes (a) electronic services and platforms provided by a supplier; (b) a raffle sales unit device that is used as a point of sale for raffle tickets; and (c) a random number generator device or system that is used to randomly generate results for the raffle." An ERS must be certified by an independent laboratory (GLI-31 or an equivalent standard from another provincial regulator) and must use a server situated in Canada. The applicant must name the supplier and confirm the supplier is registered with the Director of Corporations to do business in the province.
If the workflow stays inside the Schedule C s.1(2)(c) carve-out (payment only, ticket generated manually), then it is not an ERS and GLI-31 does not apply. But the website you use to take payment still has to be approved by the Registrar. See the next section.
For a small nonprofit: the payment-only carve-out is by far the more realistic path for a volunteer treasurer. Full-ERS is designed for licensed suppliers with certified systems and paid staff to run them.
Fees and process, split at $5,000
|
| $5,000 or less | No fee | One-page application | Any Access PEI location | Licence issued at the counter |
| More than $5,000, or a series event | $25 | Three-page application | Financial and Consumer Services Division | At least two weeks before ticket sales begin |
Both figures are from Schedule E of the Charitable Lotteries Regulations.
The maximum licence period is one year. Advertisements must state the licence number. Financial reports are due within 30 days of the lottery event. Records are retained for three years after the licence expires. The Registrar may require an independent audit for any licence.
The updated application forms were due to become available in July 2026, and the form still online at the time of writing carries the pre-transition layout. If you are applying now, confirm you have the current form before you file. You can reach the Registrar at lotteries@gov.pe.ca.
For a small nonprofit: if your prize pool sits under $5,000, this is genuinely a walk-in transaction. There is no fee and no lead time. That is unusually friendly in the Canadian context and worth taking advantage of.
The payment-only online carve-out (Schedule C)
This is the page's single most useful section. PEI wrote the clearest payment-only carve-out in Canada into the Regulations themselves, not just into guidance. It lets a small charity accept payment online without triggering the ERS certification regime.
From the Charitable Lotteries Regulations, Schedule C s.1(2): "For greater certainty, the use of an electronic raffle system by a licensee does not include ... (c) using a website approved by the Registrar for the sale of raffle tickets, where the website is used to accept payment and the ticket is generated manually and provided to the purchaser, whether an e-mail confirmation is sent to the purchaser or not."
The plain-language version:
- 1. The website only accepts payment. It does not generate the ticket.
- 2. You confirm the buyer is in PEI at the time of the transaction.
- 3. You generate the ticket manually and mail it, email it, or arrange pick-up.
From the Registrar's guidance: "Use of a payment portal should only be used as an online point of sale system. Automated components outside of accepting payment and providing a transaction receipt are not permitted."
Two limits still bind you:
- The website has to be approved by the Registrar even on the carve-out route. There is no published list of approved non-ERS websites, so confirm your intended payment portal with the Registrar at lotteries@gov.pe.ca before you sell a ticket.
- "All lottery tickets must be sold on PEI," and tickets "shall only be sold to individuals who are physically present in the province at the point of sale."
For a small nonprofit: this is the workflow the new law was clearly written to enable. A volunteer treasurer can take card payment through an approved payment portal, keep a spreadsheet of buyers, hand-generate ticket numbers, and email each one out. That is legal, it is simpler than a full ERS build, and PEI is the only province in Atlantic Canada where the carve-out is spelled out this cleanly in the regulation itself.
Where the money has to land
The most common trap a treasurer walks into is not the licence: it is the account rule. Regulators want raffle money separated from the rest of the organisation's cash before a single ticket is sold.
PEI's rule is in the Regulations: "Proceeds must also be kept separate from all other funds with separate records maintained." And under s.4(2)(f), "the licensee shall maintain a separate account at a deposit-taking financial institution within the province ... if required by the Registrar."
What that means in practice:
- Open (or designate) a bank account for the raffle proceeds before you sell tickets. If the Registrar tells you to hold it at a PEI-based institution, do that. If not, keep the proceeds separate at whichever institution you use.
- Keep separate records for the raffle. Bank statements, ticket sales log, prize disbursement, expenses, and the reconciliation between them.
- Retain the records for three years after the licence expires.
- For Chase the Ace and Goldrush style progressive raffles, you will generally need to submit weekly reports.
- Financial reports for standard raffles are due within 30 days of the event, and the Registrar may require an independent audit.
Volunteer treasurers we have spoken to at Zeffy describe this rule as something they discovered after the fact, usually when a regulator or auditor asked where the raffle money went. It is easier to set up the second account first.
For a small nonprofit: if your books already mingle raffle money with general donations and event revenue, fix that before your next licence application. It is the cheapest compliance step in this whole guide.
50/50 draws, Chase the Ace and Goldrush
The Charitable Lotteries Regulations list four licence types: bingo, casino night, raffle, and a game of chance including games of mixed chance and skill. A 50/50 draw is a raffle under this framework, and the same fee split, the same forms, the same payment-only carve-out, and the same account rule apply.
Two operational notes for progressive draws:
- Chase the Ace and Goldrush generally require weekly financial reports to the Registrar, on top of the end-of-event report other raffles file within 30 days.
- Advertising still has to state the licence number, and the minimum age of play (19) still applies.
If you are running a 50/50 alongside a larger event, remember the $5,000 threshold is on the total prize value of that draw, not on the value of the event around it. A 50/50 with a $3,000 prize pool sits inside the no-fee, Access-PEI-counter tier.
For a small nonprofit: 50/50s at community-hall scale almost always land in the no-fee tier and are the easiest legal raffle format to run on PEI in 2026.
Can you use Zeffy to sell raffle tickets online in Prince Edward Island?
Straight answer: not as your raffle ticket-sale system. Zeffy is not a certified Electronic Raffle System in PEI, and it is not on any published Canadian gaming supplier registry. So on the ERS route (GLI-31 certification, Canadian server, supplier confirmation on the application form), Zeffy does not meet the requirement, and you would need a supplier that does.
On the Schedule C payment-only carve-out route, the requirement is that the website be approved by the Registrar. There is no published list of approved non-ERS websites and no supplier registry that lists Zeffy in Canada, so we cannot tell you that Zeffy qualifies. If you want to run the payment-only workflow through any online platform, confirm the website with the Registrar at lotteries@gov.pe.ca in advance and get that approval in writing.
What Zeffy is genuinely useful for around a raffle event:
- Event ticketing for the dinner, concert, or community event where you are drawing the raffle.
- General donations from supporters who do not want a raffle ticket. Zeffy's donation page is free and does not sit inside the raffle licence at all.
- Tax receipts for eligible donations (raffle ticket purchases are not tax-receiptable in Canada, but donations made alongside them are, if your organisation is a registered charity).
- Your donor record and the follow-up newsletter after the event.
- Tap to Pay on a phone for in-person donations and event tickets on the day, if you would rather take card than cash.
Zeffy is 100% free for nonprofits: no platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever. That covers the donation, ticketing, and receipt work around a raffle event. The raffle ticket sale itself is a separate legal question that turns on Registrar approval, and we do not vouch for anyone's compliance with the PEI regulator.
The traps that catch small charities on PEI
- Two-week lead time. Over-$5,000 applications must be with Financial and Consumer Services at least two weeks before ticket sales open. Do not print tickets first.
- Advertising must state the licence number. Every poster, every social post, every email.
- All sales on PEI. Tickets can only be sold to buyers who are physically in the province at the point of sale. That constrains any online marketing you do off-Island.
- Age of play 19. New under the 2026 regime.
- Alcohol and cannabis are barred as prizes. Also new.
- Separate account, separate records, three-year retention. Enforced under the account rule described above.
- Weekly reports for Chase the Ace and Goldrush. On top of the 30-day post-event report standard raffles file.
- Approved website even on the carve-out. Do not assume payment-only means the website approval step goes away.
For anything that turns on a form field or a Registrar interpretation, confirm with the Registrar at lotteries@gov.pe.ca or the Financial and Consumer Services Division, 1st Floor Shaw Building North, 105 Rochford Street, Charlottetown.
Run the rest of your fundraising for free
Zeffy is the only fundraising platform that is 100% free for nonprofits. No platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever. 100K+ nonprofits use Zeffy for donations, event ticketing, membership and donor management, and $2B+ has been raised so far.
Frequently Asked Questions - Charitable Lottery Regulations in PEI
Do I need a licence for a small raffle on PEI?
Yes, and the licence type is a raffle licence under the Charitable Lotteries Regulations. If your total prize value is $5,000 or less, there is no fee and you can walk into any Access PEI location, fill out the one-page form, and get the licence issued at the counter.
Who is the raffle regulator on PEI in 2026?
The Registrar designated under the Charitable Lotteries Act, administered by the Financial and Consumer Services Division of the Department of Justice and Public Safety. Not the PEI Lotteries Commission, which the Act expressly excludes.
What is the payment-only carve-out?
Schedule C s.1(2)(c) of the Regulations lets a licensee use a website that only accepts payment, provided the ticket is generated manually and provided to the buyer (mailed, emailed, or picked up), and the buyer is confirmed to be in PEI at the time of payment. The website still has to be approved by the Registrar. Automated components beyond payment and receipt are not permitted.
Do I need a separate bank account for raffle proceeds?
Proceeds have to be kept separate from all other funds with separate records maintained. The Registrar may also require a separate account at a PEI-based deposit-taking institution. Confirm with the Registrar which applies to your licence.
When are financial reports due?
Within 30 days after the date of the lottery event for standard raffles. Chase the Ace and Goldrush style progressive raffles generally submit weekly reports.
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