Four of the five casinos in the Hamilton, Niagara and Brant region opened between 1996 and 2004. The fifth stands at Grand River Raceway, which opened in 2004. This page lines them up by year, and each one links to its own story.
Every date, 1996 to 2026
- 1996
December 9, 1996: Casino Niagara opens beside Clifton Hill, Ontario's second casino, planned as a temporary facility. More
- 1998
1998: Ontario lets racetracks host slots-only facilities, and the Slots at Racetracks Program launches. More
- 1999
1999: the Brantford Charity Casino opens, the room now known as Elements Casino Brantford. More
- 1999
1999: the gaming facility at Flamboro opens beside the Flamboro Downs racetrack at Dundas. More
- 2004
2004: Grand River Raceway opens at Elora, with its first race date on April 24, 2004. More
- 2004
June 10, 2004: Fallsview Casino Resort opens to the public after a $1 billion build. More
- 2013
March 31, 2013: the Slots at Racetracks Program ends after OLG is directed to end its racetrack agreements. More
- 2018
May 1, 2018: the Brantford, Flamboro and Grand River casinos take the Elements name. More
- 2019
June 11, 2019: Mohegan takes over day-to-day operation of Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara. More
- 2022
April 4, 2022: Ontario's regulated online gambling market opens, conducted and managed by iGaming Ontario. More
- 2026
May 14, 2026: iGaming Ontario begins running BetGuard, a single self-exclusion from all regulated Ontario online sites. More
In order of opening
Casino Niagara opened its doors on December 9, 1996, beside Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls. It was the second casino to open in Ontario. The plan at the time made it a temporary facility. It was to last until the Niagara Fallsview casino resort was finished, yet it still operates.
In 1999 the region gained two more. The Brantford casino opened that year as the Brantford Charity Casino, and later took the name OLG Casino Brantford. At Dundas, on Highway 5, a gaming facility opened at Flamboro beside the Flamboro Downs racetrack.
The year 2004 brought a casino and a racetrack. Fallsview Casino Resort, built at a cost of $1 billion, opened to the public on June 10, 2004. Grand River Raceway opened at Elora the same year, a track 5/8 of a mile long on a 53-acre site. Its first race date was April 24, 2004. No opening date is given here for the slots at the raceway.
Who runs them
In Ontario, OLG conducts and manages all casino gaming. Private service providers run each casino day to day under long-term operating agreements. The AGCO regulates and registers those operators.
Mohegan took over day-to-day operation of Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino Resort on June 11, 2019. It did so under a 21-year agreement with OLG, which governs both casinos.
On May 1, 2018, Great Canadian Gaming and Clairvest completed their purchase of OLG's West GTA gaming bundle. That day, OLG Casino Brantford became Elements Casino Brantford. OLG Slots at Flamboro Downs became Elements Casino Flamboro, and OLG Slots at Grand River Raceway became Elements Casino Grand River. A fourth renamed site lies outside this guide's area. Great Canadian Entertainment runs all three Elements casinos now.
How to read the timeline
Each date on the timeline comes from the venues' own pages, operator news releases and official sources, with Wikipedia articles for history that official pages do not give. The facts were checked on October 7 and 8, 2026, and every page shows the date of its check.
When two published dates for the same event disagree, the page leaves the date out or notes the disagreement. Years open are counted by the site from each opening date to the reader's current date, so the figure moves on its own.
Questions
Which of the five casinos opened before the others?
Casino Niagara, on December 9, 1996. It was the second casino to open in Ontario.
Which of these casinos sit at racetracks?
Two of the five do. Elements Casino Flamboro is beside the Flamboro Downs racetrack at Dundas, which runs live harness racing on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Elements Casino Grand River is at Grand River Raceway in Elora, with harness racing on most Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights from June to September.
Does any of them close at night?
Casino Niagara, Fallsview Casino Resort, Elements Casino Flamboro and Elements Casino Grand River are open 24/7. Live table games keep their own hours. At Elements Casino Flamboro they run Sunday to Thursday 11 AM to 1 AM and Friday and Saturday 11 AM to 3 AM. Holiday hours should be checked on each casino's own site.