Gambling Awareness Nova Scotia (GANS) is a not-for-profit, arms-length government organization that encourages and supports an independent response to problem gambling in Nova Scotia. GANS was established in March 1998, pursuant to the Gaming Control Act and the Provincial Finance Act, to receive, maintain, and disburse monies in support of research or education related to gambling or treatment as well as the remediation of the effects of gambling.
Our mandate is
a) to receive, maintain and disburse funds for the following:
· projects and initiatives related to knowledge development, translation, and dissemination, regarding problem gambling (research, education, skills training, awareness and communications)
· projects and interventions intended to provide treatment and remediation of the effects of gambling
· community capacity building relative to problem gambling
· support for ongoing operations providing addiction services to Nova Scotians
· special initiatives of a population health/health promotion nature related to the prevention of problem gambling
b) to collaborate and cooperate with other government and non-government organizations and agencies,
both provincially and inter-provincially, to best facilitate effective response to problem gambling issues
and needs through knowledge acquisition, translation, and dissemination.
c) to participate in, or otherwise support, government’s approach to gaming and problem gambling
in Nova Scotia, e.g. policy development, program development, inter-sectoral collaboration.
d) to advance a perspective of social responsibility and ethical public policy relative to gaming in Nova Scotia.
Gambling Awareness Nova Scotia strives to act with fairness, responsiveness, accountability, and transparency in all that we do. Further, we are continually evolving our procedures to better serve our stakeholders.
