Why We Exclude Quebec in Contests & Giveaways

We don't exclude residents of Quebec in our contests and giveaways because we have something against them or don't want to include residents of the province. The reason we exclude Quebec is the laws in place set out by Quebec's Regie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ), which governs alcohol, lotteries, contests, gambling and more.

Quebec's contest laws are meant to protect its residents from false contests and make sure the prizes they win from contests are legit. If we fail to follow any of these rules by an error of our own, the consequences are severe.

For example, if we offer a prize that exceeds a certain amount of worth, we have to follow some or all of the following steps:

• Register the contest rules and all advertisements used to promote the contest with the Quebec government at least 30 days prior to the contest launch.
• Publish the full contest rules at least 10 days prior to the contest launch
• Pay a fee up to 10% of the contests value, depending on who is allowed to enter.
• Agree to allow the Quebec government to mediate any lawsuits arising from the contest.
• Follow strict guidelines about what is allowed for contest content.
• Allow the Quebec government the right to approve changes to the contest once it is live and to approve ending or cancelling the contest as they deem necessary.
• File a written report after the contest has concluded proving that the prizes have been delivered or was attempted to be delivered to the winner.
• Agree that the RACJ has permission to mediate any disagreements with the public.
• File security in the amount of the contest value so that prizes are awarded as promised.
• Follow a number of other rules as listed under Quebec's Sweepstakes Laws.

Not following any of these laws could result in large fines or even criminal charges. Unfortunately, as a company of our size, rather than risking potentially detrimental fines or criminal charges, we have chosen to exclude Quebec from all of our contests and giveaways.