Four of the top Ontario retail casinos as ranked by Google Reviews aren’t much of a surprise. But, the lowest-scoring of the province’s 30 casinos was a bit of an eye-opener.
As of Jan. 8, the recently-expanded Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto located at Woodbine Racetrack ranks dead last with a Google Review score of 3.4 out of 5. That’s up marginally from the 3.3 score the massive facility achieved in December. But, it’s still pretty low for a sprawling gaming complex that is the largest casino in Canada and is in the midst of a $1 billion expansion.
We believe the low score has more to do with the casino being a long way from complete as indicated by PlayCanada‘s review. A visit found more areas still to be finished than open and the hangar-sized gaming floor lacking ambiance. Though the expanded casino opened in June of 2023, more than six months later many of its areas are still not complete.
Once the entire complex is fully open PlayCanada believes the Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto’s score will rise significantly given its location and scale.
Caesars Windsor, Fallsview Casino favored most by Google reviewers
As for the Google Review winners, the next-largest Ontario casinos fared much better. Caesars Windsor and Fallsview Casino share the top of the list with a score of 4.3. Casino Rama is next at 4.2. Casino Niagara and the relatively new Cascades Casino North Bay are at 4.1. Then, three smaller casinos — Gateway Casinos Clinton, Playtime Casino Hanover and Shorelines Casino Belleville each earned a score of 4.
Retail casinos in order of Google review scores:
| Rank | Casino | January Score | December Score | Month-over-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1. | Caesars Windsor | 4.3 | 4.3 | No Change |
| T1. | Fallsview Casino Resort | 4.3 | 4.3 | No Change |
| 3. | Casino Rama | 4.2 | 4.2 | No Change |
| T4. | Cascades Casino North Bay | 4.1 | 4.1 | No Change |
| T4. | Casino Niagara | 4.1 | 4.1 | No Change |
| T6. | Gateway Casinos Clinton | 4 | 4 | No Change |
| T6. | Playtime Casino Hanover | 4 | 4 | No Change |
| T6. | Shorelines Casino Belleville | 4 | 4 | No Change |
| T9. | Cascades Casino Chatham | 3.9 | 3.9 | No Change |
| T9. | Rideau Carleton Casino | 3.9 | 3.9 | No Change |
| T11. | Elements Casino Grand River | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Elements Casino Mohawk | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Gateway Casinos Innisfil | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Gateway Casinos London | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Shorelines Casino Peterborough | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T11. | Starlight Casino Point Edward | 3.8 | 3.8 | No Change |
| T19. | Elements Casino Brantford | 3.7 | 3.7 | No Change |
| T19. | Gateway Casinos Sault Ste. Marie | 3.7 | 3.7 | No Change |
| T19. | Gateway Casinos Sudbury | 3.7 | 3.7 | No Change |
| T19. | Gateway Casinos Woodstock | 3.7 | 3.7 | No Change |
| T19. | Great Blue Heron Casino | 3.7 | 3.7 | No Change |
| T19. | Pickering Casino Resort | 3.7 | 3.7 | No Change |
| T25. | Casino Ajax | 3.6 | 3.6 | No Change |
| T25. | Elements Casino Flamboro | 3.6 | 3.6 | No Change |
| T25. | Gateway Casinos Thunder Bay | 3.6 | 3.6 | No Change |
| T25. | Shorelines Slots Kawartha Downs | 3.6 | 3.6 | No Change |
| T25. | Gateway Casinos Sarnia | 3.6 | 3.5 | +0.1 |
| 30. | Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto | 3.4 | 3.3 | +0.1 |
Total number of Google Reviews for Ontario casinos nearly 85,000
The average score for all 30 facilities was a 3.83, up marginally from 3.78 in December.
Scores ranged from a high of 4.3 to a low of 3.4.
It’s important to note that Google Reviews are just one way products and services can be rated by customers.
Google Reviews — like most online reviews — are not science. They can be influenced by sponsorship, paid reviews, bots and more. But if there are enough of them, they can provide one of many tools for rating a casino.
As of the first week of January, Ontario’s 30 retail casinos had 84,832 reviews, collectively. That’s up 652 reviews from the same time in December.
Retail casinos in order of number of Google reviews:
| Ranking | Casino | # of Google Reviews - Jan. | # of Google Reviews - Dec. | Month-over-Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Fallsview Casino Resort | 20806 | 20672 | 134 |
| 2. | Casino Rama | 9247 | 9182 | 65 |
| 3. | Caesars Windsor | 8625 | 8561 | 64 |
| 4. | Casino Niagara | 7891 | 7835 | 56 |
| 5. | Rideau Carleton Casino | 3306 | 3285 | 21 |
| 6. | Cascades Casino Chatham | 3221 | 3192 | 29 |
| 7. | Casino Ajax | 2846 | 2833 | 13 |
| 8. | Great Blue Heron Casino | 2576 | 2567 | 9 |
| 9. | Elements Casino Mohawk | 2574 | 2566 | 8 |
| 10. | Elements Casino Brantford | 2513 | 2466 | 66 |
| 11. | Shorelines Casino Belleville | 2485 | 2455 | 19 |
| 12. | Pickering Casino Resort | 2463 | 2447 | 8 |
| 13. | Gateway Casinos London | 2197 | 2179 | 18 |
| 14. | Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands | 2127 | 2116 | 11 |
| 15. | Elements Casino Flamboro | 1798 | 1790 | 8 |
| 16. | Gateway Casinos Innisfil | 1783 | 1763 | 20 |
| 17. | Starlight Casino Point Edward | 1563 | 1555 | 8 |
| 18. | Shorelines Casino Peterborough | 1294 | 1287 | 7 |
| 19. | Elements Casino Grand River | 875 | 869 | 6 |
| 20. | Gateway Casinos Sault Ste. Marie | 847 | 839 | 8 |
| 21. | Gateway Casinos Thunder Bay | 693 | 693 | 0 |
| 22. | Gateway Casinos Woodstock | 651 | 647 | 4 |
| 23. | Gateway Casinos Sudbury | 556 | 554 | 2 |
| 24. | Playtime Casino Hanover | 509 | 506 | 3 |
| 25. | Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto | 484 | 439 | 45 |
| 26. | Cascades Casino North Bay | 302 | 293 | 9 |
| 27. | Gateway Casinos Clinton | 258 | 257 | 1 |
| 28. | Playtime Casino Wasaga Beach | 243 | 233 | 20 |
| 29. | Shorelines Slots Kawartha Downs | 86 | 86 | 0 |
| 30. | Gateway Casinos Sarnia | 16 | 13 | 3 |
Fallsview tops by number of ‘thumbs up’ categories
Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls was the leader with the most individual categories (18) that customers rated as being “thumbs up.” These are areas such as: nightlife, dining, wellness, cleanliness, location, etc.
Google Reviews are only broken down into these further categories for the largest of Ontario’s casinos — normally the ones that also have hotels.
Caesars Windsor was a close second with 17 “thumbs up” categories, followed by Casino Rama (14). Pickering Casino (3) and Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto (2) were a distant fourth and fifth.
In terms of number of categories in which casinos were rated “thumbs down” Casino Rama leads with 12, followed by Pickering Casino (6), Fallsview (2), Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto (2).
Caesars Windsor had only one category — its wi-fi — which was rated “thumbs down.”
