Casino operations at Gateway Casinos Sarnia at Hiawatha Horse Park will cease next year, according to multiple local media reports.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) notified the City of Sarnia in a letter on Monday that the lease agreement for Gateway Casinos Sarnia will end on March 31, 2026 and will not be renewed.
"This means that casino operations will cease, and the casino will close on or before March 31, 2026, with a specific closure date to be confirmed with the casino service provider in due course," wrote Michelle Eaton, OLG Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley told Sarnia News Today that he was shocked and disappointed given no rationale for the closure was provided.
"I've been talking regularly to Jim Henderson, the owner of the track, and he was trying to get another deal, another extension, and they weren't cooperating," Mayor Bradley was quoted as saying by Sarnia News Today. "What I'm asking the Premier [Doug Ford], who did intervene in 2018 to resurrect these slots at the racetrack is, can you ask OLG to make the business case to him and to us why they're closing."
In a Tuesday email to Ontario Premier Doug Ford from Bradley obtained by the Petrolia Lambton Independent, Bradley raised concerns for the loss of more than 100 jobs in the community and impact on the horse racing industry.
"Losing over a 100 jobs plus at this difficult time in the local, Ontario and Canadian economy while we struggle the impacts with the U.S. tariff war is unacceptable from a government agency which gives no rationale,” he wrote.
Henderson told the The Sarnia Observer the loss of slots will impact the racetrack.
“We didn’t have it for eight years before,” said Henderson. “We’ll just have to work [out] something else.”
(With files from Sarnia News Today, Petrolia Lambton Independent & The Sarnia Observer)