Pickering handed $5 million cheque for first quarter casino earnings
Published July 22, 2022 at 8:47 am
The City of Pickering is cashing a cheque today worth $5,042.493 for hosting the Pickering Casino Resort.
The payment from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is for the first quarter (April 1 – June 30). Since the gaming site opened in July 2021, Pickering has received $12,884,786.
Twenty-eight communities across Ontario that host gaming facilities received payments totalling $43,420,036. These payments are based on a formula consistently applied across all gaming sites in Ontario using a graduated scale of gaming revenue.
“OLG’s land-based casinos are once again providing an important stream of revenue to gaming host communities through Municipality Contribution Agreements,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Member of Provincial Parliament for Pickering-Uxbridge and Ontario’s Finance Minister. “Municipalities rely on this funding to maintain essential programs and services, and to help improve the lives of people across Ontario.”
OLG shares proceeds of casino gaming with local communities, contributing to economic recovery, infrastructure development and job creation. Payments to host communities are part of OLG’s commitment to Ontario – 100 per cent of OLG’s profits are reinvested in the province.
Pickering officials say most of the money will be returned to the community by funding important capital projects. The City Centre Project, an ambitious initiative that was to include a Performing Arts Centre, was to be majority funded from casino revenue, though that project was put on hold in the spring while the City re-examined its financial options.
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Over the past seven years, service providers have invested an estimated $1.8 billion in private sector capital development across the province. Since 2017, these investments have led to the development and opening of six new casinos, with two more currently under construction. In addition, a number of existing casinos have been enhanced and/or expanded.
Since 1994, host communities have received more than $1.86 billion in non-tax gaming revenue.
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