Sitansisk plans $170M casino resort on Fredericton's north side
The Wolastoqey community wants to open New Brunswick's first First Nations-owned casino, with a hotel and entertainment centre, by 2030.
Sitansisk, also known as St. Mary's First Nation, has announced plans for a $170-million casino, entertainment centre and hotel on the north side of Fredericton.
Chief and council revealed the project in a social media post on Monday night, the Telegraph-Journal reported. The proposed Wolastoq River Resort Casino would be built in three phases, with completion targeted for 2030.
The band council said "an agreement has been reached and signed with our existing partners at Wolastoq Casino" to build, develop and operate the new resort.
The site
The plan centres on a 30,000-square-foot building at 489 Union St., the former home of a MacLean's Sports store. Four city-owned properties to the east, on Cliffe Street, would also form part of the facility.
TribalGaming.com reported that the hotel and entertainment venue are meant to keep visitors on site rather than sending them downtown. Chief Allan Polchies has described the project as a matter of economic self-determination and a source of revenue owned by the community. If built, it would be the first First Nations-owned casino in New Brunswick. The province currently has one commercial casino, in Moncton, about two hours away by car. Sitansisk already runs the St. Mary's Entertainment Centre, a smaller bingo and gaming hall on reserve.
Questions still open
Neither the province nor the community has publicly set out a licensing structure, so the announcement is a development plan rather than a finished regulatory pathway. In Canada, provinces conduct and manage gaming, and First Nations involvement is usually negotiated through provincial agreements.
Fredericton has about 65,000 residents and a metro population of roughly 110,000. The city sits where the Trans-Canada Highway meets Route 8, on travel routes linking Saint John, Moncton, the Quebec border and Maine.
TribalGaming.com said the next things to watch are the arrangement with the province, including who holds conduct-and-manage authority and how revenue is split; how the multi-year build is financed, possibly with help from the First Nations Finance Authority and institutional lenders; and how the Moncton operator responds.
The phased approach would let the community size later stages to match demand, the report said. Building new, rather than buying an existing casino, carries more construction and market risk but keeps ownership and control fully with the community.