Exhibition Place rejects year-round casino expansion

Exhibition Place will not pursue a year-round casino, according to a report from the venue's CEO to its Board of Governors released Thursday, June 18.

Don Boyle, the CEO, said gambling during the annual Canadian National Exhibition is acceptable—the CNE has run a temporary casino since 1991—but expanding to permanent operations carries unacceptable risks. "Introducing new casino opportunities may lead to adverse public health and community impacts," the report states.

"Ontario is well supplied with casinos," Boyle said in a statement. "You've got Woodbine, you got them in the east end, now you got them to the north, you got them out of the Niagara Falls area. Exhibition Place doesn't need to really get into that one."

Toronto has resisted casino expansion before. In 2013, when the city considered Exhibition Place as a potential site, a poll found 61 per cent of respondents opposed a casino, citing social problems and crime concerns. City Council voted against allowing new gaming sites within Toronto that May.

Today, appetite for more gambling remains low. When CityNews canvassed local opinion this week, residents echoed the old concerns. One resident said the city already has enough vices; another called gambling "one of the worst drugs possibly out there." A woman opposed even the CNE's temporary casino, saying it adds to addiction.

Research supports the caution. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health reported in 2024 that nearly 70 per cent of Ontario adults participated in gambling activities. Toronto Public Health noted as far back as 2012 that problem gambling is linked to negative impacts on physical and mental health.