Today, for no particular reason, I found myself reading the fine print of a sweepstakes entry form. Way down at the bottom, in bold, was the following:
Whereupon I thought, naturally, “What the hey?” What do the organizers have against Canadians? Is this to satisfy some kind of
formality? Has anyone come across anything like this?
A US-based sweepstakes open to residents of the USA and Canada must follow each country’s laws. The same applies to a Canadian-based sweepstakes open to residents of the USA and Canada, too.
The laws of each country regarding sweepstakes and games of chance are not the same.
In order to avoid Canadian gambling laws, one must complete a “skill test” to win the prize. It’s usually something like “You have 30 seconds to tell us what 5 times 3 is.”
Canadian lotteries that don’t require the so-called skill-testing question (i.e. lottery tickets and casino games) are monopolized or heavily regulated by the various provincial governments. Anyone who wishes to run a private contest or raffle is obliged to distinguish their system by adding the question.
I don’t understand the justification, myself. I despise government regulations that force people to engage in meaningless rituals.
What SenorBeef said. Canada’s sweepstakes laws don’t allow pure games of chance, so they add a stupid question to make it a game of skill.
I am enlightened. Thanks, everyone!
Never seen one with a time limit. Usually just something like 10*3/2-5+1
Time limits are not uncommon for contests where the winner will be contacted by the organizers. In those cases, the qualification is usually stated: “Contestants must answer a time-limited skill-testing question…”