Last week was one for celebrations in Wasaga Beach, as the town received its first gaming allocation for hosting Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach. On Friday, January 27, 2023, representatives of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation handed the first gaming revenue sharing cheque worth more than CA$152,000 to the mayor of the town, Brian Smith.
Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach is operated by Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, which is among the top land-based gaming operators in Canada. The company’s new casino property opened at the end of November 2022, therefore, it was not fully operational for the whole third quarter or ninety days of the OLG fiscal year of 2022-2023. Its payment was for 39 days of operations.
Celebrating the First Gaming Allocation
Mayor Brian Smith accepted the ceremonial cheque from the OLG in Friday’s special ceremony to mark the grand opening of the casino amenity. He said that the number thirty-nine days will be one to remember, and he is now looking forward to the first full payment for a whole quarter of the OLG’s financial year, which will come as useful funds for the town.
The Playtime casino property opened in late November 2022, however, on Friday, the casino had an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its launch. This was more than two months after the soft opening from last year. Under the agreement, the town receives 5.25%of the first CA$65 million of slot revenue, and 3% of the next CA$135 million of slot revenue.
In addition to the first OLG cheque, the town also received a CA$5,000 cheque from Gateway Casinos & Entertainment’s Gateway Gives program, which will be donated to the Wasaga Beach Ministerial Food Bank. This was part of the casino’s sharing a portion of the food and beverage sales at the operator’s trademark Match Eatery and Public House.
Carrie Kormos, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the casino operator, said that the property in Wasaga Beach stands out from the company’s other amenities. She explained that the company received a warm welcome from the community from the day it announced its plan for the region. The company has invested CA$34.3 million into the casino, which employs 140 people.
With the newly received funds, the town will have to find a way to invest it. Previously, the town’s administration conducted a public engagement process, where municipal staff presented a draft policy to the council. The mayor said that the final version of the policy from December 2022 will be presented at the council table for discussions in the near future.
2022 Job Fair
In order to prepare for the opening of the casino property, in the summer of 2022, Gateway Casinos hosted a job fair to recruit personnel for the 140 positions. It was hosted at the Wasaga Beach RecPlex at 1724 Mosley St. and some of the available positions were cooks, bartenders, servers, dishwashers, hosts, cage and coin attendants, slot technicians, security and maintenance.
Source: Adams, Ian “‘An extremely exciting day for Wasaga Beach’: Town receives first cheque from Gateway casino” Simcoe, January 27, 2023
