Québec, the predominantly French-speaking province in Eastern Canada, has seen the launch of a brand new land-based casino, the Grand Royal Wôlinak Casino located near Bécancour, a small city in the Centre-du-Québec region.

The province allowed the reopening of casino properties on February 28 and now, just over a month later, a new property is ready to join the market. The Grand Royal Wôlinak Casino is not owned by Loto-Québec, the state-owned provincial regulator and lottery and gambling operator headquartered in Montreal.

The Grand Royal Wôlinak Casino is owned by the Council of the Abenakis of Wôlinak, an aboriginal community located near Bécancour. The venue opened last week and has already registered over 3,000 visitors. In fact, 500 customers visited the casino on the very first day of operations.

Dave Bernard, General Manager of the Council of the Abenakis of Wôlinak, expressed his delight at the early success of the facility and revealed that they expected to receive over 2,000 visitors during the first week, so over 3,000 is a pleasant surprise.

Ambitious Expansion Plans

The Grand Royal Wôlinak Casino features over 350 slot machines, three blackjack tables, and up to eight poker tables are set to be added in the near future. The property also offers two restaurants and a sports bar. Overall, the casino has 75 employees, 30 of which are from the local community.

Dave Bernard revealed that the casino operates on 1,500 square feet, while the whole territory allocated to the complex has 35,000 square feet. That leaves plenty of room for expansion, and the plan is to build an event center with 1,200 seats by September 2022. That center will mainly be used for boxing matches and live shows.

Moreover, the Tribal Council also plans to add a hotel to the complex, providing more jobs and revenue for the Abenaki community. That will also give visitors a chance to spend more time in the community and get to know the Abenaki culture.

Casinos in Québec were allowed to reopen on February 28 but certain restrictions remained in place. However, the Province of Quebec informed that it will further ease health and safety protocols and starting from March 14, 2022, all entertainment establishments, including casino properties, will be allowed to welcome guests at their maximum capacity.

Source: “A New Aboriginal Casino Is Coming To Quebec“. The Bobr Times. March 7, 2022.