Here, no casino operates: this guide works independently. An Ad tag sits on each paid link. 19+. Play responsibly.
Pickering Casino Resort and Casino Ajax sit 5.1 km apart in a straight line, and they are very different inside. Drag the split screen to see each side; nothing here is ranked, and this guide takes no bets.
Pickering Casino Resort is a resort with a 275-room hotel, 90+ live table games, 2,200+ slot machines and 50+ electronic table games. Its poker room has 18 tables on the hotel's third floor, and The Arena is a 2,500-seat theatre.
Parking costs nothing, with spaces in an outdoor lot and a multi-level garage.
Casino Ajax, a slots hall, sits at Ajax Downs, a quarter-horse racetrack, and offers electronic table games and 500 slot machines. Without a hotel, a poker room or live table games, the venue stays smaller and simpler.
Quarter-horse racing runs next door at Ajax Downs.
5.1km apart
Readers who prefer online play can use the button to reach an online casino partner; the link is paid, and this site receives a commission. Before going further, confirm that the site is named on the list kept by iGaming Ontario at igamingontario.ca.
Ontario only. Players must be physically in Ontario to take part.
Play responsibly. ConnexOntario offers free, confidential help 24/7 at 1-866-531-2600, chat online at connexontario.ca or text CONNEX to 247247.
Compare
| Feature | Pickering Casino Resort | Casino Ajax |
|---|---|---|
| Live table games | 90+ tables | None |
| Poker room | 18 tables, normally 24/7 | None |
| Slot machines | 2,200+ | 500 |
| Electronic table games | 50+ | Yes |
| Hotel | 275 rooms | None |
| Theatre | The Arena, 2,500 seats | None |
| Horse racing | None | Ajax Downs, quarter horses |
| Restaurants | 8 listed | 1 (Getaway, 19+) |
| Casino Shuttle | Yes, by reservation, 19+ | Not listed |
| Hours | 24/7 | 24/7 |
| Parking | Free, garage and lot | Free, outdoor lot |
| Rewards card | Great Canadian Rewards | Great Canadian Rewards |
| Age and ID | 19+, two photo IDs | 19+, two photo IDs |
Live tables divide the two. Pickering Casino Resort has 90+ live table games and a poker room with 18 tables, including two High Stakes private rooms. Poker games run from 1/3 No Limit up to 10/20 No Limit, plus 20/40 Omaha half-kill. There is no poker room at Casino Ajax, and no live table games either.
At Casino Ajax, the floor holds 500 slot machines along with electronic table games. Pickering has 2,200+ slot machines and 50+ electronic table games, plus a 275-room hotel and The Arena, a 2,500-seat theatre. Casino Ajax has no hotel.
Pickering lists several restaurants, among them Copperhorn Meet House, Sun Sui Wah, Rock House Grill and Zio's in The District. Casino Ajax has one, the Getaway Restaurant.
Both venues are run by Great Canadian Entertainment and use the Great Canadian Rewards card. Both admit guests 19+, keep their doors open day and night all week, and charge nothing to park. Hours on holidays may change, and the venue's own website carries the details.
Entry requires an original, valid government-issued photo ID along with a secondary photo ID. The operator's code of conduct sets a clear rule: We ID under 30. Photos or photocopies of ID are not accepted.
Great Blue Heron Casino & Hotel is located at 21777 Island Road, Port Perry, a straight-line 41.3 km from central Pickering. The casino occupies territory belonging to the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. The casino is open 24/7, and there is a 116-room hotel.
West across the city, Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto sits at 1133 Queens Plate Dr, beside Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke. Its straight-line distance from central Pickering is 43.5 km. It is open 24/7 and has a 400-room hotel.
Elements Casino Mohawk, 9430 Guelph Line, Milton, is on the Woodbine Mohawk Park harness track on the far side of Toronto. Measured in a straight line, central Pickering is 82.4 km away. With more than 1,300 slots and e-tables, the floor never closes. Its poker room runs Thursday to Sunday, and there is no hotel. For holiday hours at any of the three, check that venue's own site.
Parking is free at both venues. Pickering Casino Resort has a multi-level parking garage and an outdoor lot, and Casino Ajax has an outdoor lot on site.
Without a car, the Casino Shuttle runs to Pickering Casino Resort. It needs a reservation and is for guests 19+. One stop is Apple Markville Plaza on Bullock Drive; another is on Redlea Avenue, beside the Milliken GO Station parking. A third pick-up sits near Scarborough Town Centre, at the YMCA entrance at the corner of Borough Drive and Town Centre Court.
888 Durham Live Avenue, Pickering, ON L1W 0C1
Open 24/7
Pickering Casino Resort guide: floor, hotel, pokerOfficial pageDirections in Google Maps50 Alexander's Crossing, Ajax, ON L1Z 2E6
Open 24/7
Casino Ajax at Ajax Downs: slots and racingOfficial pageDirections in Google MapsCasinos
Straight-line distance from central Pickering
2.7kmPickering Casino ResortPickering, Durham LiveDirections in Google Maps
7.7kmCasino AjaxAjax, at Ajax DownsDirections in Google Maps
41.3kmGreat Blue Heron Casino & HotelScugog Island, Port PerryDirections in Google Maps
43.5kmGreat Canadian Casino Resort TorontoEtobicoke, at WoodbineDirections in Google Maps
82.4kmElements Casino MohawkMilton, at Woodbine Mohawk ParkDirections in Google MapsPhotos: Alan Spencer, CC BY 2.0 (Casino Ajax); Canmenwalker, CC BY 4.0 (Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto); Alan Spencer, CC BY 2.0 (Elements Casino Mohawk), via Wikimedia Commons (cropped; Mohawk edited)
Online
Regulated online gambling launched in Ontario on April 4, 2022. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) acts as regulator, while the job of conducting and managing it falls to iGaming Ontario. As with casinos, players must be 19 or older.
iGaming Ontario keeps a public list of regulated sites at igamingontario.ca. Any site missing from that list sits outside Ontario's regulated market. OLG.ca serves as the online site of the provincial agency, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
On this home page, three paid links marked Ad all point to the same partner, an online casino, and they bring the guide a commission. The partner can change. No bets are taken here, and this guide is not a casino. Check that a site is on the iGaming Ontario list before any account is opened there.
Online casino play in Ontario, explainedReaders who prefer to play from home can try this online casino option.
Ontario only. Players must be physically in Ontario to take part.
Play responsibly. ConnexOntario offers free, confidential help 24/7 at 1-866-531-2600, chat online at connexontario.ca or text CONNEX to 247247.
This link is paid and brings us a commission; the partner may change. Before opening an account with any site, look it up on the list kept by iGaming Ontario at igamingontario.ca.
Help
Free, confidential ConnexOntario help, 24/7, by phone at 1-866-531-2600, by text with CONNEX to 247247, or by chat on connexontario.ca.
Through OLG's My PlayBreak at 1-800-387-0098, self-exclusion from Ontario casinos is arranged by venue staff or a PlaySmart Centre, for 3 months, for 6 months or for 1 to 5 years.
BetGuard at betguard.ca allows someone to self-exclude from every regulated Ontario gambling site, OLG.ca included, with a term of 1 year, 6 months, a custom length or 5 years.
Pickering Casino Resort has 90+ live table games and an 18-table poker room, normally open 24/7. There is no poker room at Casino Ajax, and no live table games either.
Parking is free at both venues. Pickering Casino Resort offers free parking, both in an outdoor lot and in a multi-level garage. Casino Ajax has a free outdoor lot on site.
Carry two pieces of photo ID: a valid, original one issued by government, plus a secondary one. The operator's code of conduct sets a clear rule: We ID under 30. Photos or photocopies of ID are not accepted.
This website does not operate as a casino. Instead, it works as an independent guide, with no betting and no player accounts. A commission comes from paid links, marked Ad, that point to an online casino partner, and that partner may change.
Since April 4, 2022, players 19+ can use Ontario's regulated online gambling market. At igamingontario.ca, iGaming Ontario posts which sites are regulated. Any site missing from that list sits outside Ontario's regulated market.