After earlier announcements indicating that the expanded gaming operations at two of Ontario's racetracks would be ending in 2026, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) placed its proverbial chips back on the table in Peterborough and Sarnia.

The contract between Great Canadian Entertainment, which operates the Kawartha Downs casino, and the OLG, was slated to end next spring. It will now be extended for five years, according to Kawartha Downs president Richard Weldon.

"You couldn't ask for a better Christmas miracle," Weldon said to the Peterborough Examiner. "Ultimately common sense prevailed. It was a really good move for the government and a really good move for employment in that area because it suffers. Lots of plants are slowing down and laying off people. The last thing we wanted to do was lay off people."

The initial agreement was reached under the Optional Slots at Racetracks Program (OSARP), which was implemented in 2019 to help tracks affected by the termination of the original Slots at Racetracks Program. OSARP was originally set to end on Mar. 31, 2026, along with the contracts between the OLG and gaming operators and lease agreements between those companies and the tracks. 

The discontinuation of the program, announced by the OLG in the fall, would have ended 50 jobs at the Kawartha Downs casino, according to the Examiner, and put operations at the track in jeopardy. The track and SEIU Local 2, the union representing the workers, campaigned alongside MPPs Laurie Scott and Dave Smith against the decision, according to the Examiner. Employees at the racetrack have a collective bargaining agreement until 2028, and those at the casino have one in place until 2029, per SEIU Local 2.

Now that the casino contract has been renewed, Weldon said he is looking to the future.

"We're trying to get more races,” he said to the Examiner. “We've requested double the amount of races. We don't know where that will go but we keep investing in Kawartha Downs. Our track was probably the busiest and had the highest increase in betting and that's all due to hard work and persistence."

The contract with Gateway Casino Sarnia at Hiawatha Horse Park, which opened in 2020 under the OSARP program, is also set to be renewed. According to the Sarnia Observer, terms of the agreement are still being worked out, but the new deal will reportedly provide security for more than 40 casino jobs and many more on the racetrack side.

“The staff are happy. The horsemen are happy. Everybody is happy,” said Hiawatha owner Jim Henderson to the Observer.

According to Henderson, the pending five-year renewal was brought about by the efforts of MPP Bob Bailey and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose government initially enacted OSARP. Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, who questioned the OLG’s decision to end the program, told the Observer that MPP Rob Cerjanec, Bailey, and local horsemen were all involved in working to overturn the ending of OSARP.

The 150-machine Gateway Casino Sarnia facility generates important revenue for the City of Sarnia — about $400,000 per year, per the Observer — and for Hiawatha. 

(Standardbred Canada)