Poker players looking for a new thrill near Toronto will have to wait a little longer. The new Pickering Casino Resort, located east of Canada’s largest city, still remains closed along with the rest of the province’s casinos. Plans for the property’s opening, which was originally scheduled for April 2020, are still unclear.
"Pickering Casino Resort was scheduled to open to the public when the temporary closures were announced.”, said Corey Dalton, the president of Unifor Local 1090, which represents unionized casino workers in Durham. “(That casino) is expected to bring thousands of new, high-quality employment opportunities to the Durham Region. Local 1090 anticipates very little, if any, employment loss — if there are any reductions, we expect them to be short-term.”
Pickering Casino Resort remains shuttered along with all casinos and poker rooms in the province of Ontario. When the properties do get the green light to operate, the experience will be a vastly different one with strict health & safety measures in place to help combat the spread of COVID-19.
“Local 1090 will collaborate closely with (operator) Great Canadian Gaming to ensure the safety of our members (is) the absolute top-priority when the casinos reopen. Our members are extremely eager to get back to work and get back to providing guests with a world-class gaming experience,” noted Dalton. “Local 1090 representatives will be carefully examining all available safeguards and will advocate for any measures that will help provide our members and our guests with a safe gaming experience. Increased sanitation of gaming equipment, protective screens, limited seating, reduced capacity, personal protective equipment and guest-screening prior to entry are all options that will be discussed with the employer by Local 1090 representatives.”
In February 2020, it was revealed that Pickering Casino construction was close to completion. The Las Vegas-style casino is part of a $2 billion investment that will eventually include restaurants, convention space, retail, hotel rooms, and film studios.
