Casino Rama is preparing for the new Ontario vaccine passport program that will be implemented on Sept. 22.
Robert Mitchell, the director of communications and public affairs for Gateway Casinos, which operates Casino Rama and several other casinos, says Casino Rama will do the best they can to make sure the new protocols have a minimum inconvenience on their guests.
“We think we are well prepared,” he said.
Mitchell says guests will need to show proof of vaccination in paper form or a PDF file from their phone, and a piece of government-issued photo I.D. until the QR code is ready on Oct. 22.
As for employees, Mitchell says the casino is working with its human resources department and union reps to create an industry-wide standard.
“There are discussions going on with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, and the Canadian Gaming Association, but at the present time I don’t know of any staff that aren’t vaccinated and we are still working on a policy,” he said.
“All of our staff are masked with face masks and visors, all the sanitation measures have been in place now for quite some time/ We are very diligent about health and safety as it impacts our guests and employees," said Mitchell.
The casino has already communicated to their My Club Rewards members and everyone in their database to advise them that as of Sept. 22 vaccine certification will be required to enter the casino.
“People are aware that this is going to be a requirement at not only our facilities but also at other restaurants, theatres, and so on,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell says the vaccine passport program should not disrupt the casino experience or wait times to enter the building.
“Guests can come in through the hotel entrance, they can come in through the bus entrance, they can come in through the rotunda where the box office is, the main entrance to the casino, and we will have staff at all those points of entry to process folks,” he said
“Our guests have been incredibly cooperative when it comes to contact tracing information, we’ve had pretty much universal acceptance of the situation and people are beginning to adjust.”
