Canada’s land-based casino sector is slowly creaking back to life after its long pandemic shutdown this spring.

Last Friday, casino operator Great Canadian Gaming Corp (GCG) announced plans to reopen 11 casinos in Ontario that were ordered shut in mid-March as local COVID-19 infection rates spiraled out of control. The venues are scheduled to reopen on Monday, September 28.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) announced a “phased approach” to reopening the province’s casinos back in July, but left the ultimate decision on when to reopen to the third-party service providers who manage day-to-day operations at the facilities.

Few of these service providers saw then or see now much point in reopening given OLG’s restrictions, which include a maximum of 50 customers inside a venue at any given time, ensuring a minimum of two-meters physical distancing between guests and no live-dealer table games whatsoever.