Greater Sudbury Thankful for OLG’s Community Support

Last week, the City of Greater Sudbury expressed its appreciation towards the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for its continued community funding at a cheque presentation event at Tom Davies Square. For the fiscal year of April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, the city bagged almost CA$1.93 million for hosting Gateway Casinos Sudbury.

Via the Municipality Contribution Agreement, Ontario shares the proceeds from its land-based casino operations with communities that act as hosts to those casinos. Payments to municipalities differ as each of them is calculated based on a formula which is uniformly applied throughout all the Crown corporation’s brick-and-mortar gaming properties across the province.

Casino Funding is Pivotal

At the ceremony, the Mayor of Greater Sudbury, Paul Lefebvre, thanked the Crown agency for its continued support of the local communities. He explained the millions of dollars from OLG have contributed to the city over the years have provided growth and well-being for the municipality. He added OLG had an important role in advancing the local community.

Casino funds from the OLG come to support essential improvements to the local infrastructure. Also, the annual payments from the Crown corporation are placed in the city’s general revenue accounts and used on capital projects, such as road construction. Since the opening of the casino in 1999, the city has pocketed more than CA$47.83 million in non-tax gaming revenue.

Kathleen Devine, OLG’s senior municipal relations manager commented that the Crown is proud to be contributing to Greater Sudbury for over 23 years now and was looking forward to building on that support. Furthermore, she said that each and every year, 100% of the Crown agency’s profits are reinvested in Ontario to support provincial priorities.

In addition to that, Ms. Devine said OLG’s proceeds are important for Sudbury and all across the province as they help build stronger communities by supporting all kinds of initiatives. Ranging from crucial local programs to community festivals. Lastly, she added that the city also values the efforts of the workers at Gateway Casinos Sudbury, who also had a major part in the process.

New Casino Project Scrapped

Previously, Greater Sudbury had plans of bringing another casino amenity in the region, as part of a multi-million event centre, the Kingsway Entertainment District. However, after years of planning, in July 2022, the city voted to reject the CA$215-million budget for the outskirts arena, thus leading to the end of the city’s involvement in the project.

Prior to that in June 2022, the city reported the results of its Request for Proposals for KED’s general contractor. There were only two companies before the deadline of June 16, 2022. They were Ball Construction/TESC Construction Inc. and PCL Constructors Canada Inc. However, with the city’s backing out of the project, it remains to be seen how it will develop.

Source: “Greater Sudbury recognizes OLG for community funding” Sudbury Star, May 26, 2023