Online bingo is on its way to Ontario!
A contract has been inked between Canadian Bank Note Company and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. The contract provides for a technical upgrade of bingo halls, introducing online bingo to Ontario. CBN will furnish the IT infrastructure necessary to add electronic gaming to the existing paper bingo.
The OLG is in the process of establishing comprehensive upgrades to the entire gambling and gaming industry in Ontario. The far-reaching plans of the OLG include new casinos in 29 provincial zones. Ottawa is one of the focal points for that project.
Canadian Bank Note Company
CBN has a lottery division headed by Craig Bascombe as CFO and president of that division. Bascombe has confirmed that CBN will be responsible for the hi-tech addition of online gaming in Ontario. In accordance with the eight-year contract, CBN will provide the design, implementation and management of the technological upgrade of charitable bingo halls to establish online gaming throughout the province.
The electronic lottery industry has become a global element in CBN’s business. At present, the lottery systems of 10 countries located in the Caribbean and Central America are entirely under the auspices of the Canadian Bank Note Company. The initial workings of the company concerned the field of security printing.
That division of CBN currently runs the issuing systems for driver’s licensing and passports. As to Canadian currency, the company not only designed the Canadian polymer banknotes in conjunction with the Bank of Canada, CBN now prints the currency as well.
The technology for Canadian ePassport was also developed by the Canadian Bank Note Company. The employee count at CBN is around 1,350, situated in Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Calgary and abroad. The company has periodically expanded into fields such as electronic technology to sustain a consistent growth.
Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie is a convenient site for the electronic gaming headquarters, as offices of both the OLG and CBN are housed in the northern Ontario town. The existing office of OLG employs approximately 600 workers. That office is owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
The bingo hall electronic upgrade will add 25 new employees to the Sault Ste. Marie office staff of CBN. At present, there is a small software shop, currently focused on bingo software, at the company’s location in the northern town.
The OLG gaming Revitalization Initiative
The Chief Information Officer of OLG, Tom Marinelli, stressed the importance of the online bingo upgrade to the OLG’s comprehensive plan to overhaul the provincial gaming and gambling industry. He recently referred to the upgrade as an essential element of that overhaul. Marinelli recently spoke about the priority of sustaining a business connection between commercial operators, charity associations and municipalities.
The purpose of the connection is to add to the economic well-being of Ontario, as well as contribute to the revenue growth of charitable organizations. All bingo hall proceeds are donated to regional charities. Through the revitalization initiative, progress has arrived at Sault Ste. Marie in the form of online bingo
