Best casino hotels in Ontario

The gambling landscape in Ontario

Ontario runs the largest regulated gaming market in Canada. Commercial casinos are licensed by the AGCO and conducted on behalf of OLG, while day-to-day operations sit with private operators such as Niagara Casinos, Caesars Entertainment and Great Canadian. For a visitor, that structure is invisible — what it means in practice is a consistent rulebook across every casino floor in the province.

The province is also where casino hotels feel most like full resorts. Niagara Falls alone carries two casino properties within walking distance of each other, one of them attached to a 374-room tower with a 1,500-seat theatre. Windsor, Orillia and Pickering each anchor a large resort of their own, and Toronto sits within a two-hour drive of all three.

Minimum gambling age is 19. Photo ID is checked at the door on busy nights and at the cage for any sizeable transaction, so carry it even if you are well past the line.

Where the casino hotels are

Practical tips for Ontario

• Niagara Falls is the only place in Canada where you can compare two casino floors on foot in the same evening — useful if you want to see the difference between a resort floor and a strip floor.
• Peak season on the Niagara corridor runs June to early September and the last two weeks of December. Room rates on those dates can triple.
• Ontario casino floors are smoke-free indoors without exception; designated outdoor areas are provided.
• The OLG rewards programme is shared across most Ontario properties, so a card issued in Windsor works in Niagara Falls.