Item - 2025.EX21.6

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1. City Council direct the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration to negotiate with One Toronto Gaming to include the updated definitions of Woodbine Local Area and Equity Deserving Communities, as defined in Attachment 3 to the report (March 5, 2025) from the Executive Director, Social Development, Finance and Administration and City Council authorize the City Manager to sign an Amending Agreement with One Toronto Gaming implementing the updated definitions, to the satisfaction of the City Solicitor.

2024 marked the sixth year since the inception of the Rexdale-Casino Woodbine Community Benefits Agreement. Adopted by City Council in 2018, the Agreement stands as a precedent-setting and award-winning[1] example of municipal policy innovation, community advocacy, and impactful public-private partnership towards inclusive economic development. By leveraging the expansion of gaming at the Woodbine Racetrack, the Agreement has harnessed a major development project into a vehicle for driving equity-focused opportunities and fostering meaningful community benefits.

This report provides an update on 2024 targets, the City's share of gaming revenues, and also reflects on the Agreement's progress and impact captured in a five-year review, led by City staff in 2024 in collaboration with One Toronto Gaming, the Agreements' Community Steering Committee and community partners. The 2018 Agreement requires annual progress reports from One Toronto Gaming to the City of Toronto, with corresponding updates from City staff to City Council. One Toronto Gaming's 2024 annual report is included in this report as Attachment 1.

Overall, the commitments within the agreement have been met or are on track for completion. Attachment 2 summarizes One Toronto Gaming's progress towards meeting the targets and requirements of the Agreement. Key Highlights of One Toronto Gaming's progress as of December 31,2024 include:

-Child Care Centre: Children's Services has confirmed that the future child care centre will be connected to a Toronto Community Housing Corporation building unit nearby to the Casino and is accessible by public transit. This target has not yet been fully met. Children’s Services is currently in the agreement negotiation stage with Toronto Community Housing Corporation and are working with City Legal to draft and execute an agreement. Upon completion, Children’s Services and Toronto Community Housing Corporation will be able to confirm construction development timelines for the child care centre. 

-Local and Social Hiring (Operations): Of the 3,160 new hires since 2018, 42 percent (1,319 individuals) self-identified as a social hire[2] and 8 percent (257 individuals) were local hires[3]. The social[4] hiring target has been met; the local hires target has not yet been met. Actions to meet this target are further detailed in this report.

-Construction Hiring: Of the 2,819 people employed on the construction site since 2018, 29 percent (807 individuals) self-identified as a social hire and two percent (65 individuals) self-identified as a local hire. The combined construction hiring target has been met.

-Full-time Employment: Of the 1,794 active employees, 61 percent (1,101 individuals) are employed on a full-time basis and 39 percent (693 individuals) are employed on a part-time basis. This target has been met.

-Supply-Chain Diversity: In 2024, One Toronto Gaming spent $100.5 million across 18 local suppliers, representing 33 percent of their total procurement spend. One Toronto Gaming spent $1.8 million across 3 diverse suppliers, representing less than one percent of their total procurement spend. The combined supply chain diversity target has been met.

-Community Access to Space: One Toronto Gaming finalized the Community Access to Space Policy and Procedures in November 2024 and hosted the first community event in December 2024. Four community events are scheduled to take place within the first half of 2025. This target has been met.

-Responsible Gambling: To identify negative impacts of expanded gaming and implement mitigation measures, Toronto Public Health and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation developed a workplan with four workstreams that will guide Responsible Gambling work from 2025 to 2029 and fulfill Agreement requirements. This target has been met.