Gateway’s Cascades Casino North Bay celebrates highly anticipated opening in Ontario

After being selected as the primary service provider for Ontario’s northern and southwest gaming bundles in 2016, Canadian gaming and entertainment operator Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Limited officially opened its Cascades Casino North Bay property on March 9th, 2022.

Located in the Northeastern Ontario city of North Bay at 300 Pinewood Park Drive, the new 39,000-plus sq ft casino features a full-service casino bar, gaming consisting of nearly 300 slots, 10 electronic tables and 6 live dealer table games and Gateway’s signature restaurant brand, MATCH Eatery & Public House, a contemporary neighborhood pub offering sporting and live entertainment experiences. The full-service restaurant is family-friendly and features a spacious, three-season outdoor patio that will be available for dining starting in the spring, through summer and fall.

New jobs:

According to the official press release, the $41 million investment has created 200 new jobs for the city that sits along Lake Nipissing’s northeastern shoreline and “is an exciting and long-awaited day for North Bay, Gateway Casinos and all our customers and employees,” said Gateway President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Santo.

“This new attraction is testimony to the resiliency and determination of many over the past two years as the pandemic created many challenges. Today we unveil a state-of-the-art entertainment destination that families and friends can enjoy from all around the region.”

Official opening planned:

Gateway Casinos plans to hold a grand opening event, with an official opening ceremony for the new North Bay casino later this spring.

The development of its proprietary casino and restaurant brands has been key to the Canadian gaming and entertainment operator’s success, with its Cascades properties in Chatham, Ontario and Kamloops, Langley and Penticton, British Columbia.

With a total of 26 gaming properties in British Columbia and Ontario and two additional properties in Edmonton, Alberta, Gateway Casinos is one of the largest and most diversified gaming and entertainment companies in Canada.

The Burnaby-headquartered corporation was established in 1992 and currently employs more than 8,000 people and features some 421 table games, 14,162 slots, over 80 food and beverage outlets and 561 hotel rooms. In addition to Match Eatery & Public House, some of Gateway’s other proprietary brands include Atlas Steak + Fish and the new Halley’s Club, which officially debuted in 2018 at Starlight Casino Edmonton.

As mentioned, in December 2016, Gateway Casinos was selected as the primary service provider for Ontario’s northern and southwest gaming bundles, with 20-year agreements being awarded by the Ontario Lottery And Gaming Corporation (OLGC). And under the terms of the deals, the Canadian company assumed the day-to-day operation of existing facilities owned by the OLGC in the Ontario communities of Woodstock, Thunder Bay, Point Edward, Sault Ste Marie, Hanover, Dresden, Sudbury, Clinton and London from spring 2017 while having the opportunity to build a pair of new gaming venues near the northern cities of Kenora and North Bay subject to the receipt of the required approvals.

Kenora casino plans:

In May 2020, Gateway Casinos reportedly put their construction plans for adding a new location in Kenora on hold indefinitely due to the pandemic. Prior to the start of the health crisis, the tentative completion date for Kenora’s casino was expected to be the first quarter of 2022, according to the company.

The anticipated cost of the project was $21 million and included a 23,300-square-foot facility, 6,200 sq ft of gaming, including 200 slot machines and a Match Eatery & Public House. Approved by the Kenora City Council in 2013, the project cleared a judicial in summer 2019 after Gateway was selected in 2016 to build and run the Kenora Casino.

According to an earlier local news report, the latest information from Gateway Casinos has the expected completion of the project by the first quarter of 2022.