The last 12 months have not been kind on the gaming industry, with the closing down of all brick-and-mortar casino venues in the country due to unforeseen circumstances. New Brunswick has suffered as well with the closing of its casino which is under the Great Canadian Gamingās jurisdiction. Meaning that players were unable to place bets in their local gambling enterprise for almost a year.
But a recent announcement from the Crow corporation certainly has put up a smile on most local gambling enthusiasts. Starting from February 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. AST the New Brunswick casino will reopen its door for on-land betting. The venue will be available for visitors but only under certain mandatory health and safety protocols in order to protect both casino players and personnel.
Partial Reopening
The provincial governmentās decision on February 8, 2021, to restart business and lift some of the implemented stay-at-home measures has made the reopening of the casino possible. In order for the casino to operate, mandatory health and safety measures must be applied. Table games and slot machines will be limited, and the player capacity must not exceed 50 individuals.
Due to the uplift of some restrictions, three of the corporationās casinos will be able to renew operations under certain conditions. The other two casinos being the Sydney and Halifax in Nova Scotia. The Nova Scotia Halifax reopened for visitors on January 11, 2021, with limited games, players’ capacity, and food offerings. And the Casino Nova Scotia Sydney being reopened back in October last year, with 20% player capacity, no table games, and limited food and drinks amenities.
Casinos Status
In the Ontario region, all of the Crown corporationās casinos are still suspended from operations. Woodbine Casino, Elements Casino Mohawk, Elements Casino Flamboro, Casino Ajax, Great Blue Heron Casino, Elements Casino Grand River, all remain closed after being shut down at end of last year and are awaiting the green light from the provincial governmentās decision for reopening when it is safe to do so.
Elements Casino Brantford, Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands, Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs, Shorelines Casino Belleville, Shorelines Casino Peterborough, in Ontario were opened briefly last year but have all been shut down in December 2020. Despite operating under the implemented health protocols. Currently, there is no re-launch date for the Ontario regionās gambling venues. All of the gambling venues in the British Columbia province have been closed since March 2020 and will remain so until further notice.
Great Canadian Gamingās Future
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has granted the Crown agency the approval for the companyās acquisition. With US-based Apollo Global Management being a lead candidate for the purchase. The agreed price per share was announced to be CA$45, meaning that the US-company will have to pay around CA$2.50 billion for the acquisition of the corporation in its entirety.
Ontarioās Online Betting
Due to the closing down of all Ontario-based real-life gambling facilities, players had no other choice but to consider online wagering. Back on November 5, 2020, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced plans and budget for the improvement of the existing online offerings, such as draw-based and instant digital tickets. The company has put an immeasurable amount of effort into making the online gambling experience as close to the real-life feeling.
Source: “Great Canadian Gaming announces the reopening of Casino New Brunswickā, Cision, February 9, 2021
