The City of Sault Ste. Marie has received $368,191 from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission as its first-quarter payment for hosting the Gateway Casinos site.
Since the site opened in May 1999, the city has received $35,654,810.
“Gateway Casinos Sault Ste. Marie delivers significant economic benefits for our area," said Ross Romano, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie, in a news release. "It drives economic development by creating good jobs, while contributing to both the financial and social well-being of our community."
“Investing OLG’s profits back into host communities is another example of our government’s continued efforts to strengthen local infrastructure and community programs,” said Stan Cho, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. “We remain focused on working with our municipal partners to ensure that communities across Ontario have the supports in place to empower their residents to lead active, fulfilling lives and enable local businesses to thrive.”
The money is spent on such priorities as new infrastructure and parks and recreation.
The payments to host communities are based on a formula applied across all gaming sites in Ontario using a graduated scale of revenue.
OLG shares proceeds of casino gaming with local communities. Payments are part of OLG’s mandate to reinvest its profits in the province. Since 1994, host communities have received more than $2.2 billion in non-tax gaming revenue.