
Many cities in Canada have placed their bets on casinos to help drive economic activity and stimulate development. With the
economy continuing to sputter along, many places are looking to felt covered tables and one-armed bandits as saviours. Once thought of as 'Toronto The Good', Ontario's capital is the latest municipality thinking of going Vegas, but is the glitz and glamour all it's made out to be? Let's take a look at how a casino can help or hinder a city.
Tax Revenue
Gambling in Canada is big business. Last year, all legalized
gambling contributed $13.7 billion in net revenue to governments. Casinos contributed 34% of that total. While this certainly sounds great, some
research shows that governments that build casinos don't always spread their new wealth as expected. Instead of building roads and schools, for example, there is evidence that governments use gambling
revenue on other priorities like
debt reduction, which don't have the same immediate impacts on the people living in the shadow of the casino.