OLG delivers $2M payment to City of Ottawa for spring casino revenue

A look inside the new casino at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Ottawa. The casino floor includes slots, live table games and high-limit gaming areas. (Peter Szperling/CTV News Ottawa)

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) says it has paid the City of Ottawa more than $2 million for hosting what is now the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

The $2,154,663 gaming revenue payment is for the April 1 to June 30 period, just prior to Hard Rock’s official opening on July 3. Prior to that, it was known as the Rideau Carleton Casino.

OLG says since the casino opened in February 2000, Ottawa has received $111,105,766 in payments. Ottawa received $6,684,182 in the 2024-25 fiscal year (April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025), and $6,663,474 in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

“These payments to host communities are based on a formula in the Municipality Contribution Agreement that is consistently applied across all land-based casino sites in Ontario using a graduated scale of gaming revenue at the hosted site,” OLG says.

Hard Rock International was announced as the new operator of the casino at the Rideau Carleton Raceway in 2017. Construction on the $350-million renovation began in 2023.

The newly renovated casino includes 1,500 slot machines, up to 40 gaming tables, and a high-limit gaming area.