British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) is looking to potentially expand the gambling facilities found in the casinos within Parq Vancouver and Hastings Racecourse.
But for the City of Vancouver to consider the forthcoming proposal from the provincial Crown corporation, it needs to amend a strict moratorium on new additional gambling facilities that went into place in 2011.
In the process of approving the Parq Vancouver casino, the Vision Vancouver-led City Council put in place a moratorium that went as far as banning the consideration of any new or expanded casino applications.
City staff are now recommending to City Council that the moratorium be amended to enable the consideration of the expansion of existing casino locations, but short of removing the overall moratorium.
Alternatively, City staff have also outlined the options of lifting the moratorium entirely, retaining the moratorium, or directing City staff to return with a report analyzing gambling as a whole.
According to City staff, BCLC is looking to possibly increase the number of slot machines and table games found at Parq Vancouver and Hastings Racecourse. The exact details of the expansion have yet to be confirmed.
Under City policies, the 2017-opened Parq Vancouver resort next to BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver is permitted to have up to 600 slot machines and 75 table games. Currently, Parq Vancouver has 600 slot machines and 61 table games. Parq Vancouver’s casino space spans a 72,000 sq ft floor area across two levels, with the lower level largely dedicated to slot machines and the second level mainly for table games. The second level, in particular, has ample space for expansion. Since 2019, Ottawa-based real estate and investment firm PBC Group has owned Parq Vancouver.
Regulations permit Hastings Racecourse at Hastings Park to have up to 600 slot machines, but zero table games. Currently, Hastings Racecourse has 446 slot machines on a 42,000 sq ft casino floor beneath the horse racing grandstands. Great Canadian, the owner and operator of Hastings Racecourse, added the casino to the racetrack as part of its 2008 renovations to the attraction.
Aerial of Hastings Racecourse at Hastings Park in Vancouver. (Great Canadian Gaming Corporation)
BCLC estimates its proposed expansion of the gambling facilities at Parq Vancouver could provide the cash-strapped City of Vancouver with $2.6 million to $5 million in additional annual revenue. Under provincial regulations, since 2002, municipal governments can approve or deny casino proposals in their jurisdiction. But municipal governments are also guaranteed 10% of the net casino gaming revenue in their jurisdiction on an annual basis.
In the latest fiscal year of 2022/2023, the City of Vancouver received a total of $7.22 million from the revenues generated by Parq Vancouver and Hastings Racecourse. This is up from $10.53 million ($9.43 million from Parq and $1.1 million from Hastings) in 2017/2018, and $10.51 million ($8.22 million from Parq and $1.08 million from Hastings) in 2018/2019, which was the last fiscal year before the pandemic impacts.
Due to health safety restrictions, casinos were completely closed upon the onset of the pandemic, resulting in zero casino revenue for the municipal government in 2020/2021. During the 2021/2022 fiscal year when casinos reopened from the lifting of health safety restrictions, the City received $5.16 million in revenue ($4.47 million from Parq and $692,000 from Hastings).