Private operators might be moving into the city’s casino.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation president Rod Phillips was in Thunder Bay Friday to highlight some of the changes coming under the organization’s modernization plan, which is expected to give the ailing province an extra $1.3 billion.
The biggest change for Thunder Bay’s casino under that plan would see private operators take over, similar to Casino Rama or Fallsview Casino.
Phillips said 60 per cent of gaming employees in Ontario already work for private operators.
“We are going to be taking the facilities that OLG operates, that the government operates directly and bringing those regulated operators to run them on our behalf,” he said.
The change will hopefully allow casinos like Thunder Bay to expand and upgrade with more than $3 billion in private money expected to flow into OLG casinos.
A place like Sault Ste. Marie, which has had a casino for over a decade without a permanent building, could finally get a new faclility through private operators he said.
“That’s partly because as a government agency that hasn’t been the sort of thing we invested in,” Phillips said. “Every penny that has been spent on gaming in Ontario has always been tax payers money.”
Private money could also bring added amenities to Thunder Bay’s casino like more entertainment or even a hotel he said.
“The kinds of things that are very typical in other jurisdictions in Canada that are attracted to gaming but that we haven’t done in the past.”
Phillips met with the local casino’s 200 employees Friday to also explain that under the move, they would become private sector employees. They would be part of what would interest the private sector because employees are part of what makes a successful casino and Thunder Bay’s has outperformed it’s projections over the past few years.
A request for information is going out to the private sector this month. Phillips said the timeline for the change depends on the interest.
“I think there will be some interest from some very well-known names,” he said. “It’ll be happening over the months ahead.”
Phillips was also adamant that agreements with municipalities, like the five per cent slot revenue Thunder Bay receives, would not be effected.
