Questions
Frequently asked questions
If your question is not here, telephone the branch on 613-652-4516 or use the contact form. A real person answers.
Is this Branch 370’s first raffle?
Yes. Branch 370 has never run a 50/50 of its own, on paper or online. The only 50/50 ever documented at the hall belonged to a third-party renter — the Iroquois Amateur Radio Club, at its annual Hamfest. This is genuinely the first, and this website is the branch’s first web presence of any kind.
Do I need to live in Iroquois?
No. You must be physically present in Ontario at the time of purchase. Where you live is irrelevant. A visitor standing in Ontario may buy; an Ontario resident on holiday in Florida may not. Checkout enforces this, not us.
How old do I have to be?
Eighteen. There is no discretion in this and no exception at the bar.
What does “50/50” actually mean?
Half of everything collected in ticket sales goes to one winner, and half stays with the branch. If the draw sells $600 of tickets, the winner receives $300 and the branch receives $300. There is no fixed prize.
What are my odds?
Your odds are simply the number of tickets you hold divided by the total number of tickets sold in that draw. Because the total is not known until sales close, neither are your exact odds — but in a small draw of a few hundred tickets they are far better than any provincial lottery.
What happens if the jackpot is small?
It may well be small, especially at first. Iroquois has about 1,406 residents, so a draw that sells 200 tickets at an average of $2 a ticket produces a prize in the low hundreds. We would rather say that plainly than advertise a five-figure jackpot we cannot produce. Every ticket bought from outside the village is what grows it.
Is my ticket tax-deductible?
No. The Canada Revenue Agency does not treat a lottery ticket as a gift, so no charitable tax receipt can be issued for one. This is true of every raffle in Canada, not just ours.
Is Branch 370 a registered charity?
Not currently, as far as public records show. A lottery licence does not require CRA registration — it requires a charitable mandate assessed by the licensing authority. Our raffle is licensed by the AGCO under licence RAF1534821, and because a ticket is not a gift, no charitable tax receipt can be issued for one — see Where the money goes.
How is this different from the Poppy Fund?
Entirely different. The Poppy Trust Fund is money donated during the Poppy campaign. It is held in trust, governed by national rules, and spent only on direct support for Veterans and their families — never on general branch costs. Raffle proceeds are branch general funds and pay for the hall and community programs. The two never mix, and this website keeps them in visually separate zones so that they cannot be confused.
Can I donate to the Poppy Fund through the raffle?
No, and we have deliberately made that impossible. A Poppy Fund donation is not a raffle entry and a raffle ticket is not a donation. If you wish to donate to the Poppy Fund, see the Remembrance & Poppy Fund page.
Where and when is the draw?
At the branch hall, 24 Dundas St, Iroquois. Draws are monthly: sales close at noon on the last Thursday of the month and the draw is held that Saturday. This month sales close at 12:00 noon on Thursday 27 August 2026 and the draw is at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday 29 August 2026. Draws are open to the public and are photographed or livestreamed.
How do I claim a prize?
We contact the winner using the details given at checkout, and the result is posted on the Winners page. Bring your ticket confirmation and government-issued photo identification to the branch. Prizes must be claimed within six months of the draw.
What if nobody claims the prize?
We make documented efforts to reach the winner and advertise the unclaimed prize within 120 days. A prize still unclaimed after six months is dealt with as the Registrar directs.
Can I buy a ticket at the hall instead of online?
Yes. Come to the lounge during opening hours, or telephone 613-652-4516 and a volunteer will complete the purchase with you. A good number of our members are not online and we have no intention of leaving them out.
Who runs the ticket sales — you, or somebody else?
Ticket sales run on an electronic raffle system registered with the AGCO. Checkout is on this website; the card payment step is handled by our payment provider, so the branch never sees or stores your card number, and the branch does not operate the random number generator that selects the winning ticket.
Under what licence do you run the raffle?
AGCO Lottery Licence No. RAF1534821, issued to Royal Canadian Legion Branch 370 on 25 July 2026 for twelve electronic 50/50 draws. The licence number appears in the footer of every page, on every ticket and in all advertising. If you see a Branch 370 raffle advertised without it, it is not ours.
Will there be a Catch the Ace?
Possibly, later. Catch the Ace is a progressive jackpot game that adds real administrative load — a report to the regulator within seven days after every fourth draw, among other things. A brand-new licensee should not take that on in month one. We will revisit it once the 50/50 has an established buyer base.
How do I stop hearing from you?
Every email we send carries an unsubscribe link that works immediately. You can also telephone the branch and ask to be removed. We do not sell or share your details with anyone.
Still stuck?
Telephone 613-652-4516 during lounge hours, or write to us at 24 Dundas St, Iroquois, Ontario K0E 1K0. A volunteer answers the phone, not a menu — and no question about the raffle is too small to ask.