Niagara Falls collect $2.9 million as its share of local casino revenue

What’s the value of hosting two casinos in your city? To Niagara Falls, it’s nearly $3 million.

It seems the quarter that marked the beginning of 2022 (January 1 to March 31) saw $2,969,020 sent to Niagara Falls’ coffers from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) for being the host city to Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.

That marked the last quarter for the 2021-22 fiscal year in which Niagara Falls collected 11,526,576 in gaming revenue. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the annual haul has been down from the pre-2019 years.

Since Casino Niagara opened in December 1996 (Fallsview Casino Resort followed in June 2004), Niagara Falls has received $174,988,530 from the OLG.

The OLG said, it’s “proud to share proceeds of casino gaming with local communities, contributing to economic development, infrastructure and jobs.  Payments to host communities are part of OLG’s commitment to Ontario – 100 per cent of OLG’s profits are reinvested in the province.”

Ontario Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy said host communities for casinos deserve the cash from OLG because “land-based casinos create good, local jobs and play an important role in supporting in our economy, and the government will always support a strong and vibrant gaming sector in Ontario.”

“Municipality Contribution Agreements (casino host payments) are an important source of funding for municipalities, and help deliver critical services that the people of Ontario enjoy.”