Woodbine Casino Expansion Project

The land that surrounds Woodbine will continue to transform as part of a master plan to create an exhilarating place to live, work, and play in addition to the ultimate destination for horse racing and gaming. Woodbine Entertainment Group, the owning company of Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario, revealed its plans to expand the racetrack into a full-blown casino. The Group’s CEO, Jim Lawson, has already said that residents in Milton liked the idea of having more gambling options on the slots floor that currently offers 850 machines.

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On Thursday, April 26 2018

After over ten years of advocacy by Rexdale residents, organizations, and allies across the City, Toronto City Council has approved a significant agreement spelling out enforceable benefits for the community from the expanded casino at Woodbine.
Woodbine

This is an unprecedented win for the community! We have raised the floor for Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) in Canada.

We thank City Staff who worked hard to deliver on the promise of a CBA despite the constraints put on them by the 21 conditions approved by City Council in 2015. In the end, many City councilors and the Mayor showed incredible leadership in raising the floor so the community can benefit from:

  • Investment of $5 million into the development of a child care centre to support the workers and community in accessing the new jobs.
  • Community and labour involvement in the oversight and monitoring of the success of those projects, along with more frequent and detailed public reporting to ensure that the targets are met.
  • Hard targets requiring that 40% of new hires come from the local community and equity-seeking groups from across the City, that 50% of the new jobs created will be full time, and that 10% of the apprentices and tradespeople working on construction come from local and diverse communities.
  • Requirements for a minimum 10% of annual operational procurement will be through local suppliers or diverse suppliers, in order to support local businesses.
Without all your support through sending letters and hundreds of petitions to City Council and the sheer persistence and organizing from key community leaders and allies, this win would not have not been possible. We thank Unite Here Local 75 and Community Organizing for Responsible Development for reaching out to the TCBN to carry the torch and to TCBN's Board and membership for accepting and supporting the Rexdale Rising campaign.
On the ground we would like to thank ACORN, the Rexdale Hub and the dedicated staff of the TCBN, particularly Kumsa Baker, our Rexdale Rising Campaign Manager and his team of incredible local community and union leaders who did the heavy lifting. Too many to name, but we will be organizing a community event soon to celebrate our win and discuss next steps of the implementation phase. Stay tuned.
Please also join us in thanking the leadership of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Atkinson Foundation and the United Way Toronto and York Region for their expertise and credibility uplifting the community’s voice in these high stakes negotiations.

Woodbine Casino Expansion Project Map

A timeline - how the community won a CBA in 10 steps after more than 10 years:
  1. November 2006: Developers held first public meeting to introduce Woodbine Live, an entertainment/retail/residential development which they claimed would create thousands of jobs. To ensure real outcomes for residents, a community-labour coalition led by UNITE Here Local 75 and Community Organizing for Responsible Development (CORD) put the developers on notice as to their intentions for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).
  2. July 15 and 16, 2007: City Council gives the approval for WoodbineLive! but the development project never gets off the ground.
  3. July 7, 2015: City Council approved expansion of gaming at Woodbine Casino providing the Operator satisfies 21 conditions, which includes community benefits.
  4. August 8, 2017: the Ontario Lottery and Gaming selected Ontario Gaming GTA LP as the Operator for the Woodbine Casino.
  5. September 23, 2017: TCBN’s membership agreed to merge with CORD and lead the community’s advocacy for a CBA on the Woodbine Casino.
  6. October 18, 2017: Great Canadian Gaming (GCG) cancelled meeting TCBN initiated to discuss the community’s proposal for a comprehensive Community Benefits Agreement. TCBN reached out to City staff to solicit their support to advance the community’s agenda with GCG.
  7. March 21 2018: City Staff held community consultation in Rexdale. With TCBN’s support, approximately 150 people attended.
  8. April 4, 2018: TCBN and resident leaders deputed on planning issues at Etobicoke York Community Council.
  9. April 17, 2018: TCBN, resident leaders and allies deputed on community benefits conditions at Executive Committee.
  10. April 25-26, 2018: City Council debates Community Benefits Agreement conditions proposed by staff and additional motions put forward by councilors on behalf of the community

Recently, Woodbine Casino announced that they have acquired authorization from the regulatory boards for launching the live dealer games in and around Toronto. They are the first casino in Toronto City to be successful in achieving this. Since its inception in the 1950s, they had the famous race track in Canada. Recently, in the year 2015, they received the permit for coming up with their own casino. Owned by One Toronto Gaming, the Woodbine casino’s hard work in bringing live dealership games is a big achievement for the enterprise.

The Casino’s plans for expansion were stalled for some time due to delayed approval from the City and other regulatory bodies. After receiving approval for the project, Woodbine Casino set up 50 live dealer tables in the casino. The 50 live tables are equally divided for three games namely baccarat, roulette, and blackjack. It is projected that this addition to the casino will attract more online players around the globe.

For those who are unknown to the system of live dealer games, it is fairly simple. Table boards with dealers are streamed live on the websites of big casinos globally. There is also an option for sending text messages on the screen for communication directly with the dealer.

Woodbine Casino Expansion Project 2020

Woodbine

In order to participate in a live session, all one needs to have is a good internet connection. It is as simple as logging into the account and instantly start playing with online players. The major difference is that an actual dealer shuffles the cards while sitting in a studio and not a computer algorithm. The idea came into existence for people to experience the feeling close to actually playing inside a casino.

The CEO of One Toronto Gaming, Rod Baker, was thrilled with the success of expanding their casino and credited all of it to the hard work and perseverance of the employees. The regulators, shareholders worked alongside the Core team for acquiring approvals for live dealer tables. Rod Baker also mentioned how the expansion apart from being a major leap ahead for Woodbine Casino has also created 400 jobs already and is expected to create 300 more by the end of 2018.

The expansion was not only restricted to adding live dealer games, as 200 stadium-style games and electronic tables were also installed very recently. Only when people would think that is all, One Toronto Gaming made an overwhelming announcement of adding 50 more live deal tables and over 300 slot machines by early next year.
Woodbine Casino’s achievement in 2018 of expanding its business with hi-tech live dealer tables is a big source of motivation for other casinos yet to implement live dealer tables.

The incorporation of technology attracts more players globally thus increasing the client base exponentially as the only requirement is to have a stable internet connection. Currently, the projected earnings for Woodbine Casino is more than ever before which has led to high expectations. With new installations, they have made it convenient for enthusiasts in Toronto city experience the online dealer games.

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