Alcohol service offered 24/7 at Alberta casinos under new pilot program

A six-month pilot program allows Alberta casinos to serve liquor up to 24 hours a day. Some support the idea, while others call for increased safety measures.

A new pilot program at several Alberta casinos is allowing guests to order drinks 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) says the trial run, which began July 1, is aimed at matching liquor service with the hours that slot machines operate inside the businesses.

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The casinos in the pilot include:

• PURE Casino Calgary;
• Deerfoot Inn & Casino Calgary;
• Ace Casino Blackfoot Calgary;
• Ace Casinos Airport Calgary;
• Grey Eagle Casino Calgary area;
• PURE Casino Lethbridge;
• Cash Casino Red Deer;
• River Cree Edmonton area;
• PURE Casino Edmonton;
• PURE Casino Yellowhead Edmonton;
• Century Casino Edmonton;
• Great Northern Casino Grande Prairie; and
• Rivers Casino Fort McMurray.

The casinos involved in the pilot will need to follow a number of conditions, including work to ensure patron safety by limiting liquor service only to areas where gaming activity is taking place, maintaining incident logs between midnight and 9 a.m. and prohibiting off-sales during the extended hours.

“Operators are required to uphold strong responsible consumption and gambling policies, with ProServe, ProTect and DealUsIn staff all on site during these hours,” AGLC said in a statement to CTV News.

The agency said extended liquor service is not a new concept in Alberta.

“AGLC regularly considers extended service hours for major international sporting events or for major community events. Alberta also allows 24-hour liquor service in licensed airport restaurants and lounges,” officials said.

AGLC says the pilot will run for six months and once that time has elapsed, it will evaluate the results and reports from participants before making lasting changes.

The agency developed the pilot program.

A spokesperson for Grey Eagle Resort and Casino said that from their perspective, the pilot project didn’t represent a significant change in guest behaviour.

“For us, it’s simply an additional service — one that aligns with being a 24/7 operation,“ said Grey Eagle director of marketing Chelsie Whitney. ”It offers guests some added flexibility, especially during late-night entertainment or early-morning visits.

“Of course, we’re monitoring things very closely,” Whitney added. “Guest safety and responsible service remain our top priorities, and so far, we haven’t seen any major impact on operations, staffing, or supply.

“It’s early days, but overall, the program has been running smoothly without disruption.”

MADD Canada’s legal director told CTV News there’s concern over the increased availability of liquor and link with increased harm.

Eric Dumschat suggested that policies for liquor sales extensions should be coupled with traffic safety reforms, increased inspections, and extra staff training.

“If this is going to be 24 hours a day, there needs to be inspections happening at these locations,” said Dumschat. “Not just in these regular hours, but these new expanded hours as well.”

A Calgary police spokesperson said that their traffic section “has confirmed that there are no planned changes for checkstops at this time in relation to the liquor service change.”

Extensions

Liquor extensions are not uncommon in Canada.

Both Alberta and Ontario offer extended liquor service at select airports, yet Ontario keeps last call before 2 a.m.

British Columbia has never offered an extension past 4 a.m.

There are no casinos in Newfoundland or Nunavut.

With files from CTV’s Stephanie Thomas