Loto-Québec reopens casinos

Following the provincial government’ announcing its reopening plan, the Casino de Montréal, Casino de Charlevoix and Casino du Lac-Leamy as well as at the Salon de jeux de Québec and Salon de jeux de Trois-Rivières will be reopening next week.

Following this first wave of reopenings, the Casino de Mont-Tremblant will be opening on Thursday, March 3.

The lifting of restrictions was announced by Premier François Legault, who said: “We will need to learn to live with the virus. There may be a sixth wave eventually, but we will have to live with Covid-19,.”

Despite rules varying within the hospitality sector, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, has stated that vaccination passports will be required for entry into casinos and masks will be mandatory for all employees- clients will also be required to wear face coverings on entry.

The capacity in Québec casinos will be operating at 50%, seeing every adjacent slot machine made unavailable for play, effectively halving the slot offer for most properties.

Opening hours will vary depending on establishments. However, Loto-Québec will be reactivating its video lottery terminals in bars once they reopen and once the Kinzo activities start up again.

The Québec government has said it intends to lift all public health restrictions by the middle of March.

Elsewhere in the world, the ECA recorded continued Covid-19 pressures into January 2022, with over 95% of European casinos requiring proof of vaccination, a negative lateral-flow test and mandatory mask wearing needed for admission into casinos.