Canadian gambling laws are some of the most flexible in the world. In general, gambling in some form or the other is legal across the country, but the specifics differ based on the province or territory. These include regulations on casinos, racetrack betting, lotteries and slot machines. Real money casinos are probably the biggest and most lucrative part of this sector in the country, with there being over 100 casinos operating in Canada, with the exception of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Riding on this trend, Canadian punters will soon have a new destination to visit, with the opening of a brand-new casino in Pickering, close to Toronto.
One Toronto Gaming, which already runs Casino Ajax, Casino Woodbine and the Great Blue Heron Casino, is close to opening a fourth location in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), in Pickering. The tentative opening night is on April 8, with the company holding a huge job fair recently for positions at all four of its casinos, but mainly for the Pickering site. And of course, there's the Canadian Casino Bonus Codes.
The casino is part of an integrated entertainment campus of sorts being planned by the operator, with construction also underway on a 100,000 square-foot movie studio and a 275-bed hotel. The plan is to offer patrons a complete experience, with a huge shopping district called the Market District also being planned. In the words of one executive - “if you make a lot of money in the casino, you’ve got to spend it somewhere. Well, do it right here.” There are entertainment and sports facilities also being developed south of the site, with there also being discussions around having a dedicated train for the site with the local train operator, Metrolinx.
The reasoning behind the movie studio and hotel is to take advantage of movie crews which frequent Toronto, and allow them to stay on-site. The casino itself is expected to generate more than 3,700 gaming positions, and with a revenue-sharing model, it will provide funding for the municipality as well. The additional projects being constructed, along with potential traffic links, provide a huge opportunity for the area in general, with retail, office and commercial spaces being created. Of course, the municipality will benefit from the increased revenue and footfall through an increase in tax revenue, while locals will have more choices for their entertainment needs. Of course, all of this is some time away, with the April 8 launch date for the casino preceding an opening event period of two weeks. The hotel is not expected to be ready before late-2020, along with a performing arts centre, while the studio will be in operation in fall 2021. The other projects are still in the planning phase, and so it will probably be two to three years before the entire area comes together as planned. Nevertheless, the casino is the centrepiece of the entire project, and it is expected to have a positive impact in terms of employment on the area, with thousands of jobs available. It is also expected that the revenue from the casino will allow the operator to keep construction ongoing of the other sites.
The Pickering Casino Resort is expected to be one of the best locations for gamblers in the GTA, and with March almost halfway through, the launch date is not too far away now, with excitement and expectation building up for what is bound to be another success in the One Toronto Gaming stable.
