Olg and Caesars Sign Long-Term Operating Agreement for Windsor Casino — A City Bets on Continuity
Under the glow that has long marked Windsor’s riverfront, olg and Caesars have finalized a Casino Operating and Services Agreement that keeps the Caesars resort at the center of the city’s tourism and entertainment landscape. The deal locks in a long-term operating relationship that officials say will preserve jobs, municipal revenues and a familiar brand for the next phase of the complex’s life.
What did the Olg and Caesars agreement establish?
The agreement is a Casino Operating and Services Agreement (COSA) between the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and Caesars Entertainment Windsor Limited that will govern operations of the Windsor casino. The parties reached a 20-year arrangement that has now taken effect. The complex has a long history: it first opened in 1994 at a temporary site, moved into a permanent facility in 1998, and has been operated by Caesars since 2006. The procurement process that produced the agreement began in 2023 after delays tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Windsor’s complex is the last in the province to adopt the land-based gaming modernization model described by the operator.
How will the deal affect workers, municipal revenues and the local economy?
City finances and jobs are central components of the agreement. The arrangement will continue the quarterly payments made by the provincial government to the City of Windsor. Current employment levels at the complex must be maintained through at least September 2027, and employees at the facility are represented by Unifor Local 444, with the existing collective bargaining agreement remaining in place. For local leaders, those provisions are intended to provide continuity: Caesars and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation both framed the deal as one that reinforces the complex’s role as a regional tourism anchor.
Anthony Carano, President and CEO of Caesars Entertainment, said the company is proud to continue bringing the Caesars brand to life in Windsor and intends to build on the resort’s legacy by delivering hospitality, entertainment and service. Duncan Hannay, President and CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, described the agreement as a partnership that has benefited the community and local economy and expressed that he is pleased the organizations will continue their contribution together.
Those statements reflect operational commitments embedded in the agreement: the brand continuity, the employment protections for the workforce and the ongoing municipal payments are concrete measures aimed at sustaining Windsor’s gaming and tourism ecosystem.
What steps are being taken now and what remains to watch?
With the agreement in effect, the immediate steps include maintaining the employment baseline through the specified date and continuing the established payment schedule to the City of Windsor. The transition from procurement to operating under the new agreement marks the close of a multi-year process that began in 2023 and weathered pandemic-related delays. Renovations, capital plans or other operational changes were not detailed in the available material; the public commitments emphasize continuity of brand, workforce protections and municipal contributions.
For Windsor residents who have watched the resort since its temporary opening in 1994 and its permanent establishment in 1998, the news is one of stability: the Caesars name will remain on the skyline for the foreseeable future, and the provincial operator and the casino company have formalized how that continuity will be managed.
Back beneath the casino’s lights, the city will test whether continuity alone is enough to sustain the broader tourism economy that has grown around the resort; for now, olg and Caesars have chosen to extend the partnership that has defined the site for two decades and more.
