Great Canadian Gaming

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation
Public
Traded as TSX: GC
Industry Gaming
Founded 1982
Headquarters Richmond, British Columbia
Key people
 Rod N. Baker
Revenue 48.8 million CAD (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 5,500 (2016)[2]
Website www.gcgaming.com

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation is a multi-jurisdictional gaming, entertainment and hospitality operator with 19 properties in Canada and the United States. The company’s properties include 13 casinos, 5 horse racing tracks including 4 harness racing tracks and 1 thoroughbred track, and 3 community gaming centres in locations across British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Washington state. Great Canadian employs 5,500 employees across the company and its corporate offices are located in Richmond, British Columbia and Coquitlam, British Columbia. Across all of its 19 properties in five different jurisdictions, Great Canadian responsibly generates gaming funds that support healthcare, education, social services and other government programs.

A key pillar of Great Canadian’s business strategy is its strong support of the communities in which the company operates and does business. Under the PROUD program, Great Canadian annually invests $2 million in local communities across the country, and in 2015, the company supported over 2,000 charitable organizations in need.

Company Information

Great Canadian profile

History

1980s

Great Canadian Casino Company Ltd. was formed in 1982 and began operating charity casinos in a variety of locations, training staff on-site, and operating the PNE’s casino and midway games. In 1986, Great Canadian proudly opened its first permanent location, The Casino at the Holiday Inn on Broadway in Vancouver, as well as Nanaimo Casino, the first permanent casino on Vancouver Island. Shortly thereafter, Great Canadian hired its first employees on May 1, 1987. That same year, the British Columbia Gaming Commission (BCLC) was formed, the Red Lion Casino opened in Victoria, and the Richmond Casino and Langley Casino opened their doors too.

1990s

In 1992, Mayfair Casino was opened. At the same time The Renaissance Casino in Vancouver opened in 1994, and the Guildford Casino closed, transferring its license to The Newton Casino. In 1997, expansions to the gaming landscape in British Columbia included longer hours, a wider variety of table games, and, for the first time, slot machines. Great Canadian Gaming Corporation was created on March 15, 1997, and Great Canadian Casinos Inc. was incorporated July 9, 1997. In 1998, British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) assumed oversight of all casinos in the province.

2000-2005

During these years, Great Canadian continued to experience further growth. In 2001, Great Canadian opened two new properties in British Columbia: View Royal Casino in Victoria and Coquitlam Casino in Coquitlam. In 2004, during the same year that Great Canadian was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the company introduced River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond to their repertoire of properties. This was also the year the company entered the horseracing industry, acquiring Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver. In addition, Great Canadian bought Bear Mountain Community Gaming Centre in Dawson Creek and gained 100% control of Great American Gaming Corporation and its four casinos in Tukwila, Everett, and Lakewood, in Washington State (the fourth casino in Kent shut down on March 14, 2015).

2005-2010

In 2005, Great Canadian expanded across the country, acquiring Casino Nova Scotia Halifax and Sydney, and two racetracks in Ontario, Georgian Downs and Flamboro Downs, as well as Fraser Downs Racetrack & Casino in Cloverdale (now known as Elements Casino and Fraser Downs Racetrack) and Sandown Park in Greater Victoria, BC. River Rock Casino Resort became the first flagship property of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, adding a Four-Diamond, AAA-rated hotel with two towers, 204 suites, and a 1,000-seat show theatre. At the same time, the Coquitlam Casino completed a significant redevelopment, becoming Boulevard Casino, which tripled it in size. In 2006, Bear Mountain Community Gaming Centre relocated and became known as Chances Dawson Creek Community Gaming Centre. Fraser Downs Racetrack & Casino (now Elements Casino and Fraser Downs Racetrack) also added table games to its gaming options.

In 2008, Great Canadian acquired Haney BingoPlex in Maple Ridge, and also completed the redevelopment of Hastings Racecourse, adding a 600 slot permanent gaming facility. In 2009, River Rock Casino Resort welcomed Translink’s Canada Line, Vancouver’s newest mass transit system that delivered 15,000 extra visitors a week to the property. While that was taking place, View Royal Casino underwent an expansion, adding a parkade and additional gaming space.

2010-2015

In 2010, Haney Bingo Plex received an additional 100 slot machines and was rebranded as Maple Ridge Community Gaming Centre. Casino Nanaimo also rebranded while their 15,000 square-foot gaming space was renovated and upgraded. One year later in 2011, River Rock Casino Resort added a third, four-diamond, hotel tower, offering 196 new hotel rooms. Great Canadian also acquired Chilliwack Bingo during this year.

In 2012, Fraser Downs Racetrack & Casino (now Elements Casino & Fraser Downs Racetrack) opened their Poker Room, and Chilliwack Bingo relocated and became Chances Chilliwack. Similarly, in 2013 Maple Ridge Community Gaming Centre relocated to Chances Maple Ridge. Later that year on December 20, 2013, Hard Rock Casino Vancouver opened its doors, following a multi-million dollar renovation and rebranding of the Boulevard Casino.

2015 was another significant year with a number of events that reinforced Great Canadian’s position as a leader in the gaming, entertainment and hospitality industry.

2016-present

In January 2016, Great Canadian received official approval to build Shorelines Casino Belleville which will open its doors in 2017.

How Great Canadian supports its communities

The “PROUD of our people, our business, our community” brand at Great Canadian represents all the ways the company supports the communities that it does business in – through donations, volunteering and partnership opportunities. The goal of PROUD is to positively impact the various needs, causes and projects that matter the most in those communities, through funding as well as time, resources and talent.

In addition, Great Canadian’s PROUD Volunteer program allows employees who dedicate a certain number of volunteer hours to receive additional support in the form of a company donation in their name to that non-profit group/charity.

Through its PROUD efforts, Great Canadian invests over $2 million annually in local communities, and in 2015, the company supported 3,600 charities, non-profit groups and community associations.

Direct Community Support (PROUD program)

Direct Community Support is just one of the tangible outcomes of Great Canadian’s PROUD program. In the past, charities, community organizations, and events supported include:

Host Local Government Revenue Share

In 2014/2015, the company’s operations generated over $42.5 million to municipalities located in its Western Canada properties, and $16.4 million to municipalities that host its Ontario properties.

BRITISH COLUMBIA (based on FY 2014-2015) Municipality Host Local Government Revenue Share
Chances Maple Ridge Maple Ridge $1.138 million
Chances Chilliwack Chilliwack $1.137 million
Chances Dawson Creek Dawson Creek $.807 million
Hastings Racecourse Vancouver $1.103 million
Nanaimo Nanaimo $2.49 million
View Royal Greater Victoria (West Shore communities) $4.027 million
Hard Rock Casino Vancouver Coquitlam $6.711 million
River Rock Richmond $21.821 million
Elements Surrey $3.030 million
ONTARIO (based on FY 2014-2015) Municipality Host Local Government Revenue Share
Shorelines Thousand Islands Kingston $3.4 million
Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs Fraserville $3 million
Georgian Downs Innisfil $4.9 million
Flamboro Downs Dundas $5.1 million

Responsible Gaming

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation generally offers gambling in a responsible manner. GCC is regulated by BCLC and therefore is required to adhere to responsible gambling practices through the following:

RG Check is an accreditation program created by the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) based on its Responsible Gambling Standards for gaming venues and for Internet gambling sites. The program offers gaming companies and their Crown partners the opportunity of an independent assessment of the quality of their responsible gambling safety net. All nine Great Canadian gaming properties in BC, as well as its two casino operations in Ontario, have obtained their RG Check accreditation. To learn more about RG Check, please visit: www.rgcheck.com

Non-gaming amenities

Great Canadian offers more than just gaming. Broadening its amenities to cater to non-gaming entertainment and dining needs, the company operates hotels, theatres, conference facilities, and its properties include private function/meeting spaces, entertainment lounges, and high quality dining options. Through these efforts, Great Canadian hopes to expand the role of casinos in the regions where it operates.

Great Canadian properties

British Columbia:

Ontario:

Nova Scotia:

New Brunswick:

Washington State:

References

  1. ↑ "Great Canadian Gaming Summary". Retrieved 2014-07-15.
  2. ↑ "Great Canadian Gaming Corp (GC:Toronto) Snapshot". Retrieved 2014-07-15.

External links

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