In the most recent service plan submitted by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation to the Canadian Minister of Finance, the government-owned organization conveyed intentions of embarking on transformational strategies to modernize its lottery and casino systems. Inasmuch as the BCLC’s lottery infrastructure is nearing end life, the organization intends to replace it with gaming platform technologies that will leverage the crown corporation’s business operations.

The growth plans include enabling BCLC to immediately respond to latest customer preferences and to collaborate with other jurisdictions, as well as contend with growing competitors in delivering safe and secure world-class gaming that is accessible by way of mobile devices. However, the service plan also cited BCLC’s rising operational costs as impediment to its growth strategies, since the continuing increases could likely erode the 2.7 per cent projected annual net income growth over the next four years.

Last Friday, BCLC Interim President & CEO, Jim Lightbody, declared that the crown corporation has cut down its marketing and advertising budget by at least 23 percent and renegotiated contracts with suppliers in order to save as much CA$20 million. However, the declaration also came with an announcement that BCLC will be downsizing its 880 full-time staff by seven percent.

This will affect 67 employees, comprising 33 in Vancouver, 29 in Kamloop and five field staff. CEO Lightbody further explained that workforce attrition will account for the job losses, which denotes that BCLC intends to reduce its workforce by encouraging retirement or resignation instead of imposing harsher labor-reduction methods like mass layoffs.