This week, the Board of Directors of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, announced that it has elected a new Chief Executive Officer and Registrar. Now, the role will be handed to Dr. Karin Schnarr who has more than enough experience as a senior executive. According to the regulator, she will undertake her new role on September 18, 2023.

AGCO is in charge of overseeing the liquor, gaming, cannabis and horse racing sectors in accordance with the principles of honesty and integrity, and in the public interest. It was launched on February 23, 1998, by the Government of Ontario under the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection Act of 1996, and now Dr. Schnarr will lead it forward.

AGCO is in Safe Hands

It is safe to say that Dr. Schnarr is a highly qualified and performance-focused senior executive with plenty of academic, public- and private-sector consulting environments experience. She is an Associate Professor, Strategic Management, at the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. There, she has been Director of MBA and BBA Programs

Over the years, she has also served in multiple senior positions in the provincial government. This includes Chief of Staff to ministers in multiple portfolios, during which time she led the development of public policy, legislation, and regulations related to key government priorities. She recently Chaired the Ontario Government's Task Force on Women and the Economy

Additionally, she boasts numerous connections within organizations, across government ministries and agencies, and with external partners and stakeholders. Dr. Schnarr also has a rich Board of Directors and governance experience in several industries. Among many other things, she was recently the Chair of the Board of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario and the Vice-Chair of the Waterloo Regional Police Services Board.

It should be mentioned that she obtained her Ph.D. in Strategic Management and her MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. But that is not all, as she also touts a Master of Arts (English Literature) from Queen's University and Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Waterloo.

In a statement, the gambling regulator and its Board of Directors shared that they are quite pleased to welcome Dr. Schnarr to the agency. They also expressed sincere gratitude and appreciation to the departing CEO and Registrar, Tom Mungham, who announced his retirement from the regulator earlier this year. He had a major part in the introduction of the province's iGaming sector.

Appointing New Board Chair

In July 2023, the gambling organization also reported that Dave Forestell has been assigned as the new Chair of the Board. Prior to that, he was a Board member and Chair of the commission's subsidiary iGaming Ontario. These senior changes possibly explain the regulator's delay in announcing its decision regarding the heavy sports betting marketing in the province.

Source: “Dr. Karin Schnarr Appointed CEO and Registrar of the AGCO” AGCO, August 21, 2023