Casinos operated by Gateway Casinos in Northern Ontario, Canada have not yet reopened following the pandemic shutdown. Moreover, Gateway has also halted construction of its new casino in North Bay, which had been planned to open in 2020.
Asked for a comment, Gateway said it’s concentrating on reopening its casinos in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. Paul Burns, president of the Canadian Gaming Association told CBC News, “Nobody put into their business plan, ‘I’m going to be closed for 12 weeks’ or could be more.” He added, “I think everybody’s ensuring right now that they can get their employees back to work and get their doors open.”
He noted that the casinos are working on plans to reopen that will probably include limited crowds and smaller than normal revenues.
Stuart Walker, president of Gaming Advisory Services, predicts casinos will be the last industry to reopen. The social distancing rules will probably spell the end to casino buffets and cut the number of slot machines in service.
He added, “Is that viable? I guess time will tell. I would expect business is not going to crop right back up in the beginning.”
