Woodbine developer vows to hire locally

Great Canadian Gaming, the company planning to revamp Woodbine Racetrack, promises to provide hundreds of jobs to local residents and pay the city as much as $31 million a year if it’s allowed to proceed with its casino expansion.

But that’s not enough, says Councillor Mike Layton, who worries about the risks a casino would pose to the Rexdale community, such as fuelling gambling addictions and draining the local economy. “These are jobs, but jobs at what expense?” Layton asked.

Woodbine, which hosts slot machines, will become a full-fledged casino and entertainment and hotel complex by 2022, the Star has reported.

Great Canadian Gaming Corp. and Brookfield Business Partners, who won the Ontario Lottery Gaming Corp. bidding process in 2017 to expand Woodbine, must meet or commit to 21 conditions to proceed, said a city staff report to be prepared for Toronto’s executive committee Tuesday.

Council put the conditions in place in 2015 when it approved Woodbine as a casino site, said a staff report at the time. It did so to ensure Rexdale residents get a share of the socio-economic benefits, and that the operator and OLG (the provincial agency responsible for lottery and gaming entertainment) work to minimize addictions tied to casinos.

Among other conditions, Woodbine will hire at least 40 per cent of its employees through local or social agencies, a recent report said.

After two years, 50 per cent of workers will be full time. It plans to hike its workforce by 500 new jobs. The city, which currently receives $16 million a year from Woodbine’s revenue, will get an additional $15 million in annual hosting funds beginning in 2022.

While city staff advise Woodbine has met the conditions, others, including Layton, disagreed. He argues that casinos “siphon off” earnings instead of investing them into surrounding communities.