‘It is no surprise tcasinos in British Columbia are pushing for reopening! While over 40 land-based casinos in Canada await an opening date!’ (Photo by Photo by sebastiaan stam on Unsplash)
Land-based casino establishments in British Columbia have raised concerns with the provincial government big wigs in regard to the disastrous effects extending closures will have on the industry. The casino industry is now pressing for an official date to reopen after Covid restrictions are severely taking their toll financially!
At this time there is no set date in place, while firm words resounded negatively throughout the many British Columbia gambling establishments after Selina Robinson, the finance minister, unhelpfully stated that casinos can open up for business when the provincial health officer says so. Yet, these casinos have been out of action since Spring 2020, and some more information would go a long way towards at the very least extending contingency plans.
There is no shortage of pressure from local city councils too. In Fort St. John, the local government administration is pushing the principal decision-makers using some worrying stats that ring true with casinos across the world. Already the city council has had to make budget cuts of 900,000 CAD, while 125 casino workers are no2 unemployed. And these stats are from the Chances casino only.
British Columbia also has a host of other land-based casinos throughout the region. River Rock, Treasure Cove, Casino of the Rockies, Billy Barker Casino Hotel, Cascades Casino Kamloops, Cascades Casino Resort Langley, Cascades Casino Penticton, Casino Nanaimo, Elements Casino Chilliwack, Elements Casino Surrey, Lake City Casino Vernon, and Playtime Casino!
With all these casinos out of actions, the province is losing millions in tax dollars, while unemployment in the industry is endemic, which means fewer citizens paying taxes and more money to spend on welfare claimants!
Canada Has Over 40 Land-Based Casinos Countrywide!
British Columbia is by far the hardest-hit state as it boasts the largest number of land-based casinos in the country. Other regions in Canada hard hit by casino closures are those with a large number of land-based establishments in operation. Saskatchewan has 9 casinos and Ontario also has 9. Alberta also has a huge number of casinos with 10 in operation, while Calgary has 7 land-based gambling establishments.
Meanwhile, other Canadian regions such as Victoria (1), Windsor (1), Ottawa -Gatineau (1), Montreal (1), New Brunswick (1), Prince Edward Island (1), Winnipeg (2), Nova Scotia (2), Yukon (2), Toronto (2), Niagara Falls, Vancouver (3), Manitoba (3), Niagara Falls (3), Quebec, (4), Edmonton (5), all have only a handful of casinos with the lack of tax dollars and resulting unemployment rates due to closures having little effect on provincial and local taxes.
None of the casinos can soften the blow of the pandemic due to laws preventing them from running Canadian online casino operations. The government and the state lottery in some regions do have online casinos with a small number of games, but the framework in place does not extend to privately owned land-based casinos!
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