Casinos Reopening in Ontario with New Rules

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused casinos all over the planet to close their doors temporarily. However, there are now signs that many of them are going to open again, with Ontario in Canada the latest place to confirm that people can get back to gambling again.

Full Details of the Reopening

The province of Ontario has seen their number of Covid-19 cases fall recently, and this has led to them accelerating plans for getting life back as close to normal as possible. They are now entering Phase Three of the Ontario Reopening Plan.

As part of this, the Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, confirmed that this province’s casinos have now met the standards needed for them to reopen. Friday, July 16, has been confirmed as the date for this to happen, although not all of them intend to open at the same time.

The Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (TSE: GC) has also given the green light for gambling establishments to open their doors to the public again. What are the main rules that they need to stick to?

The first is that all guests need to be 2 meters (or 6 feet) apart at all times. To help them to do this, casinos can only open to 50% of their normal capacity. It isn’t yet clear when this restriction to their capacities will be removed or at least lowered.

Reports suggest that 11 of the regulated venues were due to open on July 16, including Great Blue Heron Casino, Shorelines Casino Belleville, and Casino Ajax. It hasn’t yet been confirmed when the harness tracks in Ontario will be allowed to let customers back into their venues, though.

Further news is anticipated on the Fallsview Casino Resort in Niagara and the neighboring Casino Niagara, as they are expected to be able to open for business again under the new rules. July 23 has been suggested as a possible date for Fallsview Casino to reopen.