Roughly 100 people out of work after temporary bingo hall closures

One of the new COVID-19 restrictions announced by the Saskatchewan government Wednesday will have huge implications for some bingo halls around the province — and for the 100 or so people who temporarily will be out of work.

Five bingo halls will be temporarily closing their doors, citing the new restrictions along with the importance of ensuring the safety of customers and staff members as the reasons.

Patsy Warren, president and chief operating officer of Amalgamated Charities Inc., says as of Friday, the Centennial Bingo, Bingo Palace and Fantasyland Bingo in Regina will be closed. So will Leisure Time Bingo in Moose Jaw and ClubWest Bingo in Saskatoon.

“The restrictions that came out make it impossible for us to stay open,” Warren said. “Our charities would be working for nothing and we can’t have that. We also took into consideration the safety of our staff, charities and customers.

“It was an extremely difficult decision, especially at this time of year.”

In a restriction that took effect Friday at 12:01 a.m., capacity at all performance and gaming venues was limited to 30 people — down from the previous limit of 150. That applied to casinos, bingo halls, arenas, live theatres, movie theatres and performing arts venues.

Aside from the employees who work at the bingo halls that are impacted by the decision, 104 different charities will feel the effects as well.

“The charities work the bingos and the paid staff is basically the hall manager, the bingo caller and the concession workers,” Warren said. “We just have to hope that things get better and restrictions change so that we can make some money and our charities will be able to receive some funds while we get our staff back to work.”

The bingo halls work as a pooling system, meaning revenue goes towards bills and paying the staff followed by the leftover funds going to charity.

“If there’s no money left, we don’t have enough money to pay bills (and) then there’s no money to pay charities,” Warren said. “With the restrictions, there would be no money. We would be short of paying bills as it is.

“We can’t have charities working, volunteering, and making no money for their organizations.”

Warren added the decision ultimately came down to ensuring people are safe.

“We’ve done the right thing by closing down at this time,” she claimed.

The current restrictions in the province are to be re-evaluated Dec. 17.