Lots of government operations around the world make a profit. Usually the money is reinvested to improve operations, but it can also be sent back for general spending depending on the structure of the organisation. Now, it's been a very long time since I lived in Canada, but the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) used to make a tidy profit. It also used to be the largest single purchaser of wine in the world and as such was able to get incredibly rare wine. Back in the day, if you wanted to tour a winery someday, you could often set it up with the LCBO and the winery would absolutely roll out the red carpet for you. Not sure if that hack still exists, but it was pretty sweet 10-20 years ago. Although unpopular with a lot of people due to all the politics that a government monopoly on alcohol gave, the LCBO was profitable and provided surprisingly good value (as long as you happened to live near a store where influential people lived :-P ). Like I said, it's been ages since I lived there, so I'm not sure what the current status is, but it lasted a long time due to its ability to deliver service and provide revenue for the government.