The B.C. Lottery Corp. is finalizing a request for proposals to select a private-sector operator to develop and run a casino and entertainment venue in the city of Victoria.
No date has been announced as to when the process will be completed.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said Friday that the city is in a “wait-and-see mode.”
The municipality has ruled out its Apex site at Humboldt and Douglas streets because the location is not large enough, she said.
Victoria is expecting that a casino would be one component in a development.
“The only way that I would be willing to consider a casino, and this is what the city’s policy says, is if it is combined with some new hotel development. Goodness knows, we could use a few new hotel rooms in the region,” Helps said.
“I’m curious to see what might come forward, but really, I haven’t heard a peep.”
City staff said this summer that the lottery corporation had shortlisted four companies: Great Canadian Gaming Corp., Gateway Casinos, Chances Gaming Entertainment and Gamehost Inc., with plans for that process to be completed this fall.
Angela Law, spokeswoman for the lottery corporation, said in a statement Friday that once the request for proposals is ready, applicants will be asked to submit a package outlining their plans.
They will have to identify an appropriate location, show the design, amenities and other details, and demonstrate a commitment to responsible gambling and social responsibility, Law said. A proposal will then be developed for the city to consider, she said.
Victoria must solicit and consider community input before it approves a gaming facility proposal from the lottery corporation, she said. This is required by the Gaming Control Act.
One possible site is at Rock Bay.
A Songhees First Nation official said this week that it is open to the idea of a casino, in conjunction with other uses, on Rock Bay land. In 2016, the federal government transferred 4.2 acres of land there to the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.
In 2015, Helps floated the idea of a casino at Rock Bay, at the time suggesting it could be combined with a wastewater treatment plant. The treatment plant is now being built in Esquimalt.
The lottery corporation settled on Victoria to be the location for a new casino. In late 2015, when the lottery corporation was considering a second casino closer to downtown Victoria than the existing View Royal Casino, it asked six communities — Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Oak Bay, and the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations — if they would host a casino smaller than View Royal's.
The View Royal casino is now on a program to more than double its size by fall 2018.
New features will include a 600-seat entertainment venue, 350 additional slot machines and electronic games, and more dining facilities.
