Located next to the BC Stadium in Vancouver, the Parq Casino is submitting a significant expansion application to the city government. The casino operator, in collaboration with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, plans to significantly increase its number of slot machines from the current 600 to 900. This proposal has been scheduled for discussion in the "referral report" at the city council meeting on February 3rd. This is the first substantial expansion proposed under the new policy since the Vancouver City Council amended the gambling freeze order in 2024, which had been in place since 2011. The casino predicts that the additional 300 slot machines will attract about 305,000 new players over the next five years, boosting revenue and employment while also raising public concerns about the increased risk of problem gambling.
Expansion Details and Economic Benefits: Attracting Traffic and Increasing Revenue
The expansion plan of Parq Casino is part of its overall strategy to enhance the entertainment experience and strengthen its contribution to the local economy. The building itself includes a hotel and conference space, with the physical capacity to eventually accommodate up to 1200 slot machines. The core expected benefits of this application include:
Customer Traffic and Revenue: The additional 300 slot machines are expected to significantly increase customer traffic and bring additional fiscal revenue to the city government. It is estimated that in the first three years after the expansion, it could bring about an additional 1 million Canadian dollars in "host city revenue" annually.
Community Contribution: Currently, Parq Casino contributes 300,000 Canadian dollars annually to the city's social responsibility fund and an additional 150,000 Canadian dollars to the St. Paul's Foundation. The city government that owns the casino receives 10% of its net gambling revenue, and in 2024, Vancouver received 6.1 million Canadian dollars from Parq's operations.
Policy Change and Approval Process: From Freeze to Conditional Opening
The advancement of this expansion application is directly due to the change in the policy environment. In 2024, the Vancouver City Council revised the gambling industry freeze order that had been implemented for over a decade, allowing Parq Casino and Hastings Racecourse to increase the number of slot machines and tables. This marks a significant shift in the city's attitude towards the growth of the gambling industry.
However, the approval is not unconditional. The city staff's report points out that according to the BCLC's "Problem Gambling Severity Index" assessment, the expansion could result in about 6000 new players falling into low, medium, or high-risk categories over the next five years. Therefore, the report suggests that any approval must be predicated on implementing additional mitigation measures and ongoing monitoring.
Social Responsibility and Risk Controversy: The Art of Balance
The proposal inevitably sparks a broad discussion about the social impact of gambling expansion. Supporters value its economic benefits, while critics worry about the potential exacerbation of gambling addiction and the increased burden on the public healthcare system.
Parq Casino emphasizes that it has implemented several responsible gambling measures to address risks, such as:
Training employees to identify and respond to problem gambling.
Regular audits of its responsible gambling practices.
Updating player health policies.
Establishing a "GameSense" information center on the casino floor to provide responsible gambling information.
Currently, the Greater Vancouver area has 9 casinos, totaling 7301 slot machines and 412 gambling tables. As PASA's official website points out in its analysis of global gambling regulation cases, deliberations like Parq Casino's expansion are typical examples of local governments finding a delicate balance between "economic incentives" and "social responsibility". The city council's final decision not only concerns the scale of a single casino but will also set an important precedent for how the region manages the growth of physical gambling in the future.
————
This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders" gambling news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gambling channel:https://t.me/gamblingdeep
Free data reports: @pasa_research
PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
