Fae Savignano, our SVP, explains why a Skill Testing Question is required if you run a Sweepstakes in Canada.
If you are a Canadian resident and enter a Sweepstakes you will be required to correctly answer a mathematical skill testing question in order to be eligible to enter and possibly win a prize. Residents of the United States do not have this prerequisite, as this rule is specific only to Canadian residents.
Why is it a requirement? The skill question is a requirement as set by Canadian Sweepstakes law, as explained below.
As you may already know a “Lottery” is a promotion consisting of three elements: 1) Prize (something of value awarded to the winner); 2) Chance (winner chosen at random); and 3) Consideration (required monetary or other form of value expended by entrant). To avoid the Legal prohibitions against lotteries, a sponsor must eliminate one of the three elements named above.
In the United States, the Sponsor will usually eliminate #3 – Consideration (the purchase component) to avoid being classified as an illegal lottery. That is why U.S. Sweepstakes will include the following statements; “No Purchase Necessary to Enter. A Purchase Will Not Increase Your Chance of Winning.” And along with that statement, a Sponsor would also provide an Alternate Means of Entry method for the entrant; such as mailing or emailing an entry to the Sponsor.
In Canada, games of pure chance are prohibited as illegal lotteries under Canada’s Criminal Code. This includes promotions where prizes are given away through random draws, as well as those where prizes are randomly distributed through game cards or on packages (e.g. “scratch-and-win” games). Therefore the Sponsor will use a different method to avoid an illegal lottery by eliminating, #2 – the Chance component. There must be at least some element of skill involved, hence requiring a skill testing question to enter. Every entrant does not have the same chance to win; only those who at least pass the skill testing question are eligible to win a prize. Answering a skill-testing question turns a game of pure chance into a (legal) game of mixed chance and skill. Generally, a time-limited, multi-step and multi-operational mathematical skill testing question, answered without assistance, is sufficient.
The most common form that these questions take is as an arithmetic exercise. The courts have agreed that a four-part mathematical question counts as a “test of skill” and that the correct answer must be obtained without using any calculating devices.
An example of a qualified arithmetic exercise is:
228 x 21, then add 10824, then divide by 12, then subtract 112 = ?
Two final thoughts to keep in mind:
- Cautious Sponsors generally remove two of the three elements of an illegal lottery to be safe (i.e., remove Consideration through a “No Purchase” entry option and include a “Skill-Testing Question” to remove part of the chance element).
- It should also be noted that Contests of pure skill, such as an essay, photo or video contest judged by a panel of judges using published judging criteria, do not require a skill-testing question, although many include one anyway as an added precaution.
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