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View Royal Casino expansion spurs hiring blitz for 130 staff

The Great Canadian Gaming Corporation has started beating the bushes as it looks to fill 100-plus positions in its Elements Casino Victoria in View Royal.
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Two restaurants and more gaming video terminals are being added to the View Royal casino.

The Great Canadian Gaming Corporation has started beating the bushes as it looks to fill 100-plus positions in its Elements Casino Victoria in View Royal.

Construction at the soon-to-be-expanded casino is on time with expectations it will open before the end of December.

“Things are progressing rapidly. We’re pretty excited about how things are moving along,” said Chris Lynn, executive director of Vancouver Island casino operations. “Everything looks to be on time as it stands now.”

The construction is a massive expansion of the existing casino that will more than double its size by adding 42,000 square feet.

The first phase, which will open this year, will include two new restaurants and a significant increase in slot machines, electronic games and table games.

The second phase, which will include a new 600-seat entertainment venue, will be completed in early 2018.

New space needs new people, and Lynn said they estimate they will need as many as 130 people to staff the two phases, the first 100 or so before Christmas.

“We have just started looking, we have held and attended some job fairs,” he said. “Our biggest concern is culinary with over 100 people. With that type of number it can be difficult. A tight job market is always a concern.”

Elements is looking for people to fill positions as servers, bartenders, chefs, security officers, table games dealers, surveillance operators and roles within the finance, human resources and marketing departments.

Lynn said in addition to a competitive package there are health and dental benefits, discounts, pension and an employee share purchase plan.

The first phase of the expansion will see two new restaurants opened — one, with 150 seats, will offer a pub-style menu as well as a buffet, while the other will be a quick-service location with Asian bowls and fast food with space for 35 employees.

The View Royal casino first opened in 2001 and is run by the Great Canadian Gaming Corp. It generated $71.8 million in revenue in the 2015-16 fiscal year and distributed $4.1 million to seven municipalities. Of that, View Royal and Langford receive about 45 per cent each, while the other 10 per cent is distributed among Esquimalt, Highlands, Sooke, Metchosin and Colwood.

Lynn said Great Canadian has looked into adding a hotel to the site. “We are open to exploring all options when it comes to improving our amenity offerings for our guests,” he said. “There is no current timeline on this but it is something we are currently assessing.”