Who Actually Profits From Pickering's Casino?
Pickering Casino Resort is operated by One Toronto Gaming, a joint venture between Great Canadian Entertainment and Brookfield Business Corporation, part of the same arrangement that runs Casino Woodbine, Casino Ajax and Great Blue Heron Casino.
Brookfield Business Corporation belongs to the wider Brookfield group, one of the world's largest financial conglomerates. Its top parent is genuinely Canadian and based in Toronto, but Brookfield's asset management arm moved its head office to New York City in 2024, meaning a real slice of the profits generated at Pickering's casino now flow into a US-headquartered financial giant, not into a locally rooted operator.
To be fair, Pickering does get its own share too. Through a Municipal Contribution Agreement with OLG, the city has received about $76 million since the casino opened in 2021, including $16.4 million this past fiscal year alone, and that money has gone toward community grants, parks and local infrastructure.
But that hosting fee is a small, fixed slice compared to the total profit the casino generates every year, most of which still flows up through Brookfield's structure. The real question isn't whether Pickering benefits at all, it's whether the current split is fair, and whether residents are getting the full picture.
That's not illegal, it's just how Ontario's regional casino contracts are typically structured. But residents deserve to know it.
As mayor, I'll push for real transparency about how casino revenue is structured and where it goes, and make sure Pickering's own interests, jobs, local investment, community benefit, aren't an afterthought.
Shaun Rickard
Candidate for Mayor, City of Pickering
shaunrickardformayor.ca/