Councilors from Westlock County voted unanimously April 25 to send a letter to the leaders of the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) urging the agency to repeal its previous denial and allow operator Capital City Casinos to relocate its casino in Camrose to a new site in Edmonton.
The AGLC is scheduled to reconsider the relocation at a hearing on May 10, after it was first denied back in September of 2021.
The main issue surrounding the move is not the physical location, per se; rather, lawmakers are concerned about the impact on charitable gaming and the contributions made to rural organizations that rely on gaming revenues.
Essentially, regional charitable organizations in Canada are assigned to casinos in their vicinity, which means that urban organizations inevitably make more from urban casinos than their rural counterparts. The smaller organizations also have to deal with longer wait times for events.
If Capital’s Camrose casino does get relocated to Edmonton, it would still remain in the rural category, which would allow for smaller charities and organizations to reap more revenue, and it would help alleviate the long wait times.
“We have a number of organizations within our county that depend on casinos for their livelihood and to keep the lights on,” CAO Tony Kulbisky argued during the hearing, as reported by Town and Country Today. “If there is an inequity and a long wait time, I think it’s incumbent on council to put a position forward so our county organizations know that it’s important and we’re at least acknowledging what the concerns are.”
Other officials quoted the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA), which has said previously that the casinos in Camrose and nearby St. Albert “currently produce the lowest per-event revenues and have among the highest wait times (for not-for-profit organization casino dates) in the province,” whereas the five casinos in Edmonton have the highest revenue averages and lowest wait times.
RMA data also indicates that regional organizations in St. Albert and Camden have brought in some $250 million less than their urban counterparts since charitable gaming was first implemented, TCT reported.
According to TCT, Capital City has said previously that the move is necessary due to financial hardships–-in 2019 the AGLC allowed Edmonton’s Century Mile Racetrack and Casino to relocate to Nikso, and in 2021 it approved the construction of the Louis Bull First Nation Casino, both of which are in close proximity to Capital’s existing Camrose casino and therefore have affected its performance.
