Work Hard, Play Harder: These are the Best Casinos in Canada for Conferences

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “casino”? Neon lights? Huge jackpots? Fine dining? And what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the words “work conference”? Probably none of the above. While it might seem a bit counterintuitive, casinos are actually great venues for company conferences. Many of them have everything from massive banquet halls to smaller meeting rooms, And the best part? When you get a break, you can choose between slot machines, live entertainment and sometimes even an on-site spa at the hotel. 

Depending on the conference, you could be in for a top-tier tech event or a painfully dully corporate dinner, but none of that really matters if the venue is a bit of a flop. But let’s face it, a great location, a luxurious room and a bit of downtime to hit the gaming floor can really make that next compulsory event worth it.

But which Canadian casinos offer the best experience when it comes to all things corporate? We decided to find out, with the help of Tripadvisor. We scoured reviews of casinos from Vancouver to Nova Scotia and everywhere in between, looking for mentions of certain keywords like “conference”, “expo” and “corporate event” and based on how many reviews mentions these words, we ranked each casino on our scale. 

And oh boy, are you in for a treat. Because let us tell you right now, the results were absolutely shocking. But before we get into all the juicy details, let’s take a quick look at the casinos we analyzed as part of our study. 

If you’re looking for some inspiration for where to host your next big conference, there’s no better place than Grey Eagle Resort and Casino. This casino ranked top of our list with a rating of 15.79%, based on 33 keyword mentions in 209 reviews. “Convention” and “event centre” were the phrases that came up the most, which makes sense when you consider that the event space here can hold almost 3,000 people! 

_{Event Center at The Grey Eagle Resort and Casino tops our list as the ultimate conference destination. (Image: The Grey Eagle Resort and Casino)}

That’s more than enough for a major convention. One review noted, “The Christmas Party in the Convention Centre was great. Several smaller companies filled the space and made for a lively night. The food was fantastic, the entertainment had peaks and valleys and everyone I talked to had a great time”. The event centre doesn’t just host stuffy corporate conferences though - there are lots of live music concerts too, if that’s more your style. 

Next up was Club Regent Casino, with a score of 6.06% based on 14 keyword mentions. We know that it’s the highest score ever, but stay with us here. The most popular word was “event centre”, so we were keen to see exactly what they hosted. Although this Winnipeg casino has a full event centre, they don’t specify anything about corporate events on their website. 

_{The Regent Event Centre earns praise for its great acoustics and comfortable seating. (Image: Casinos of Winnipeg)}

While we couldn’t see any direct mentions of business meetings, the reviews of the event space are generally positive, with one saying “I've been attending a number of concerts at the Regent Event Centre and acoustics and seats are great. The quality of shows and pricing are very reasonable”. 

In third place, Cascades Casino got 13 keyword mentions and 4.28% on our Conference Excellence Scale (a very real, legit name which we’ve just made up on the spot). This Langley casino welcomes events of all sizes in meeting spaces that can accommodate up to 1,000 guests. There are also lots of smaller spaces, ideal for company workshops and team away days. 

One very business-like commenter said, “Our company delivered Group Sales Training in one of the meeting rooms in the hotel adjoining this Casino. The room was accommodating and well set up. No surprises. Food was very good. I recommend this facility for business conferences. Thanks”. The end.  

Rounding out our top four, Living Sky Casino only had a total of 199 reviews on Tripadvisor, but the good news is that eight of them mentioned our keywords, giving the casino a total rating of 4.02%. “Conference”, “convention” and “event centre” all came up multiple times. Living Sky is smaller than some of the other casinos on our list, with a little under 200 slot machines, but the event centre looks like a real highlight, featuring conference facilities, catering and even a boardroom for the leadership team. 

Our favorite review has to be one that said “I was at the Living Sky Casino for a conference, it took place in their theatre seating auditorium. The sound and lighting were great. They had an open bar and h'orderves after and the beer was cold and the h'orderves were well hot and tasted great!

"The casino was handing out a free $10.00 game voucher to anyone attending the conference so a group of us went in to play. We had so much fun we ended up staying for over 2 hrs”. No, we didn’t change the spelling of hors d’oeuvres, because we thought you deserved to see it. On a side note, how do we get invited to conferences like that?

When we write these kinds of articles, we usually uncover a few casinos that don’t score too well, but things were a little different here. In a huge turn of events, we found not one, not two, but nine casinos that scored absolutely zero on our scale. It’s easy enough to explain this away as a case of these casinos simply not having any meeting or conference facilities, but that’s not the case every time.

So, let’s explore a little. 

The casinos that got zero were:

• Casino de Charlevoix
• Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall
• Casino de Mont-Tremblant
• Shorelines Casino Thousand Islands
• Grey Rock Casino
• Gateway Casinos Sault Ste. Marie
• Playtime Casino Kelowna
• Starlight Casino Point Edward
• Casino Niagara

Casino Niagara had almost 1,000 reviews, but not one single mention of any of our keywords. To be fair, the casino doesn’t advertise any conference facilities and even the hotels are referred to as “nearby” rather than being on the property. The same goes for Starlight Casino Point Edward, which has over 400 slot machines and an array of table games,  but not accommodation or event spaces.

Grey Rock Casino, on the other hand, hosts weddings, corporate events and holiday parties, so there’s absolutely no reason for this casino to have gotten such a poor rating. We had a look at the general reviews to see if there were any red flags, and although it was a mix of “boring because there are no table games” and “great place for a stopover on a road trip”, we couldn’t reach any actual conclusion. 

_{Grey Rock Casino offers space for weddings, corporate events, and parties but despite its versatility, reviews paint a mixed picture. (Image: Grey Rock Casino)}

We also want to call out a few casinos that ranked low on our list, without getting the dreaded 0% rating. Niagara Fallsview Casino was one of these, receiving 0.17%, based on just seven keyword mentions in over 4,000 reviews. That’s almost worse than getting zero! 

“Conference” came up six times and “convention” once. “I was only here for an evening event at their massive conference room facility. It was transformed to an amazing haunted house... spectacular”. Didn’t you mean spooktacular?

Casino Regina got a whopping two keyword mentions amongst a total of 349 reviews, giving it a rating of 0.57% - not great. Not great at all. 

The casino’s website advertises space for meeting, banquets, or receptions of up to 180 people, so it seems a little sus that so few people mentioned such events in Tripadvisor reviews. 

“There really isn't that much to do in Regina during the week”, began one review, which we couldn’t disagree with. It went on to say, “I was in town for business and stopped at the casino for a late night snack. Casino is located near all the hotels”. Again, doesn’t shed much light on the lack of keywords. 

Methodology 

Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with conferences to determine the casino with the best conference facilities in Canada. We calculated the percentage of mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews.

Keywords tracked: conference, convention, expo, trade show, corporate event, company retreat, business meeting, seminar, workshop, banquet, annual meeting, industry event, event center, exhibit space, breakout rooms, group booking

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