Casino de Montreal Planned Expansion to Maximize The Skyrocketing Popularity of Gambling in Canada

As one of Canada's premier gambling hotspots, the Casino de Montreal boasts of being among the country's largest and most popular casinos. Located in the province's prime Jean Drapeau Park on Notre Dame Island, the casino records an annual seven million visitors. To keep all these visitors entertained, the casino is enriched with 3,200 slot machines and over 115 electronic and live dealer games.

Casino de Montréal is operated by Loto-Québec, a government corporation which, according to Casino Quebec, was established in 1969 to regulate and operate all the gambling operations in Quebec. Recently, Loto-Québec has been recording massive spikes in the revenues generated from gambling.

Similarly, the number of new players has also been on the rise thus indicating a growing interest by Quebecers in gambling as well as a generally skyrocketing market in Canada.

To tap into this growing market, the operator announced plans to expand Casino de Montréal to include a 200-room low-height design hotel in its adjacency. This is expected to make an immediate impact, considering that the current location does not offer accommodation.

Heavy Investment

According to Loto-Québec CEO Jean-François Bergeron, the operator expects to inject C$150 million into this expansion project. Although the project is designed to contain 200 rooms, the feasibility studies were done considering a 75% occupancy. However, Mr. Bergeron believes that with the massive traffic the casino attracts, filling the 200 rooms will not be an issue, further supporting the massive investment the operator has decided to undertake.

The hotel will be designed with sustainability efforts in mind, while the low-height design is intended to blend in with the existing landscape.

Plans are already underway to get partners for the project, with the immediate ones being designers. The investment is expected to start returning revenue in the next three years, although some sentiments suggest that a 2-year completion rate is not off the table. This investment is going to turn Casino de Montréal into a top-ranking location for casino lovers worldwide.

As Caroline Proulx, Quebec Tourism Minister, reiterated, this investment will improve the casino's attractiveness and amplify its visibility on the world stage.

Once completed, the hotel's revenues will go towards improving the lives of Quebec's communities. This will be in addition to the $581 million that Loto-Québec currently contributes to Quebec's GDP.

Loto-Quebec: A Closer Look at the Operator

Casino de Montreal will be fully owned and managed by Loto-Québec, adding to the list of other similar ventures under its arm. This includes Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu and Hilton Lac-Leamy. Loto-Québec is mandated with the responsibility of setting up and managing casinos gaming locations in the province. Its mission is to turn these venues into tourist attractions that offer their clientele unique entertainment and gaming experiences.

To date, Loto-Quebec’s casinos have forged an enviable reputation in the international gambling market, setting themselves apart through their exceptional customer experience, sheer quality, beauty and architecture. Casino de Montréal is one of these casinos that made a great breakthrough in the international gaming industry. Others include Casino de Charlevoix, Casino du Lac-Leamy and Casino de Mont Tremblant.

With this rich portfolio, Loto-Québec has been generating massive revenues for Quebec. The only time its revenues dipped was during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, the operator reported a $1.4 billion net income, a 62% drop from the previous year as most gamblers deserted land-based casinos for online casinos.

Although Loto-Québec also offers online casino games, it faces stiff competition in this sector from the numerous online casino operators serving the market. According to the Quebec Online Gaming Coalition, 73% of Quebecers who gamble online prefer privately owned online casino sites to Loto-Quebec’s online casino platform. This explains why a huge chunk of the operator's revenues comes from land-based casinos where it enjoys a monopoly —such as in rhe case of Casino de Montréal.

Conclusion

Loto-Quebec’s decision to expand Casino de Montréal couldn't have come at a better time, with gambling activities on the rise not just in Quebec but the whole of Canada. According to a recent studies by Concordia and Laval universities, the number of online gamblers in the province jumped from 5% to 15% between 2018 and 2021 and has been growing exponentially ever since. This growth has been atrributed to a host of things but key among them was the legalization of single-game betting events.

Espacejeux which operates in the gambling market as the operator's online platform offers users a variety of casino games with lottery tickets and bingo added to the mix to spice things up. With the expansion of the Casino de Montréal, it is apparent that even as online casinos continue to gain traction, a good number of gamblers – upto 60% – still prefer the aura of the traditional land based casinos such as Casino de Montréal. With this new hotel, the growth of Loto-Québec as Canada’s gambling powerhouse is greatly reassured.