Alberta charities face wide gap in casino funding as municipalities demand change
Annualized returns topped $49,000 in Calgary compared with about $7,300 in the St. Albert casino region, which also faced longer waits.
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A St. Albert resolution on the province's Charitable Gaming Model passed at the Alberta Municipalities convention with nearly 95 per cent support. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette
St. Albert's resolution on the province's charitable gaming model passed with overwhelming support at the Alberta Municipalities convention.
St. Albert had two resolutions up at the Alberta Municipalities (ABMunis) convention this year. One was based around door-to-door solar sales, while the other was based on the equitable provincial charitable gaming model. The charitable gaming model resolution passed with 94.6 per cent support on Thursday, Sept. 24.
Under the model, charitable groups can be licensed by the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) to conduct charity casinos in coordination with licensed private casino facilities as a revenue generating opportunity.
Coun. Neil Korotash, who championed the resolution, said he had a similar resolution 20 years ago during his first stint on council. Since then he said, not much has changed with the disparity, but the gambling landscape has with the advent of online gambling and sports betting.
"Now that disparity still exists, but now it's less about redistributing the pie and more about making the pie bigger for everyone," Korotash said. "I just think there's an opportunity to increase funding for charities who do good work in our community."
As of Dec. 31, 2024, the 2024 annualized return for the St. Albert casino region through the model ended up being just over $7,300, while Edmonton brought in $42,730 and Calgary's return was $49,281. Wait times were also longer for St. Albert, with a wait time of 31 months for key events in St. Albert, while Edmonton only waited 22 months.
Online gambling revenue streams did not exist when the AGLC conducted the review of the model from 2019 through to 2021. Play Alberta launched in 2020, and generated $37 million of revenue in its first year, and has grown to generate $270 million in revenue for 2025.
"We need to address those inequities that have existed for a long time. But more importantly, we're leaving hundreds of millions on the table with the province not redistributing that online gambling money," Korotash said.
Going forward, he said ABMunis will add the resolution to their advocacy plan and communicating with Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister and Morinville-St. Albert MLA Dale Nally to make sure he's aware that St. Albert supports it.
Nally did not respond to the Gazette's request for comment by press deadline.
Korotash said the resolution has never been about taking away from Edmonton and Calgary casinos and charities.
"It's not a zero-sum game, it's really about increasing the amount of revenue for all of our charities," he said.
