As part of our mandate, the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) initiated dialogue with various parties regarding the feasibility of developing a national approach to industry training and education. Out of those initial conversations came the plan to undertake a national needs assessment, which was communicated to the industry at large at the 2016 Canadian Gaming Summit in Gatineau/Ottawa. The purpose of the needs assessment was to identify challenges and determine whether or not there was an appetite for a more cohesive and centered approach to training for the Canadian gaming industry.

To undertake the assessment CGA partnered with the Sault Ste. Marie Education Partners (Sault College, Algoma University and Sault Innovation Center- SSMEP), and engaged Marinelli and Flynn Gaming Advisors (MFGA) to conduct it. CGA and MFGA together developed the methodology and approach, including developing a questionnaire and identifying key organizations and individuals to be interviewed.

A total of 20 interviews with gaming professionals were conducted and 24 questionnaires were received.

Key Findings of the Needs Assessment Expand

The top-line result is that there is that there is substantial support for a national approach to gaming training and education. Other findings include:

  • The preferred method for delivering training/education is online and in an interactive way that incorporates mobile platforms where feasible. The online/mobile approach was preferred because of its capacity to reach employees anywhere and at any time, its cost per student, and the ability to easily update course material. Rigorous tracking of students’ progress will be a requirement due to the regulated environment in which gaming organizations operate.
  • Some site training will be necessary because of specific site or gaming vertical requirements, as well as the related benefit of having employees from a specific area undergo training together. Examples include management training, surveillance, cage and coin, and customer support centers.
  • A central location, for instance, the Canadian Gaming Summit, could be used for executive and management training that is not organization specific, such as risk management, legislative and regulatory, technology trends, marketing programs, and industry challenges. A central location could also be used to recognize the graduates of a national gaming program.
  • Because provinces do not adhere to identical regulations, variations will occur in common courses, for example, Responsible Gambling and Anti Money Laundering.
  • Human Resources divisions within some organizations have established training and education programs. While this may cause challenges (owing to proprietorship of the existing education and training programs), all organizations expressed a willingness to share training materials for a national program.
  • Curriculums from the CGA acquired Canadian Gaming Centre of Excellence, Thompson River University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and learning frameworks from organizations such as SaskGaming already exist and are being further developed, which can be incorporated into the national education program.
  • Organizations such as the Canadian Partnership for Responsible Gambling and the Responsible Gambling Council need be consulted to create a national responsible gambling education program or a responsible gambling professional certification.
  • Land based gaming has the largest education and training needs, as it is dependent on its large employee base to deliver its services and products. Constant staff turnover (approximately 10% annually), new site developments, such as Ontario modernization, together with continuous change in product (e.g. social, eSports, fantasy sports, machine racing) creates an almost continuous demand for employee training.
  • Refresher courses mandated by provincial regulators, and national anti-money laundering requirements also create constant demand for training and education.
  • Other areas identified include project management, contract management, risk management, analytics (player and game), business acumen, security/surveillance, cultural/diversity and office technology training (e.g. MSOffice).
  • Another opportunity to be investigated is lottery retailer training. However, this training cannot be offered nationally due to differing provincial regulations and types of terminals in use in each province.
Our Next Steps Expand

Our first next step is to develop governance and operational frameworks and agree them with our primary partners that include crown agencies and gaming property owner-operators. Other key steps include:

  • Communicating the results of the needs assessment at the Canadian Gaming Summit, in Vancouver and soliciting feedback from Summit participants on a governance structure and how to further a national education and training program.
  • Investigating the implementation of an online interactive application/platform for the mobile deployment of education, including short videos followed by questions, training gamification, and synchronous learning concepts.   This will require meeting with regulators across the country to discuss the requirements for tracking students and the certification of courses.
  • Pursuing strategic relationships with global lottery and gaming educational leaders such as UNLV PLUS Center.
  • Ensuring future Summit sessions feature technology enablers from other industries that can be applied to gaming (e.g. financial services), common issues across Canada (e.g. conduct and manage in an online world), gaming best practices in analytics, marketing, risk assessment and designing entity level controls, and best practices in contract management.
  • Investigating leadership/management training that can be given and certificates awarded at the Summit.
  • Investigating a national approach to training employees across Canada on responsible gambling and anti-money laundering, in addition to creating a responsible gambling professional certification.
  • Investigating the creation of a Professional Certification for Responsible Gambling in consultation with the Responsible Gambling Council and the Canadian Partnership for Responsible Gambling.
  • Tracking emerging gaming trends and suppliers for training requirements, such as fantasy sports, eSports, skill-based and social games.
  • Investigating how existing employee training can be applied towards accreditation, as all organizations contacted indicated an interest in obtaining some form of credit towards a diploma or certification for programs already completed.