There’s no doubt that Canada is easily one of the world’s biggest entertainment hubs. The second-largest country in the world has no shortage of unique and beautiful locations for travellers to explore. While the western part of Canada wows people with the Rocky Mountains and the itineraries of Vancouver, Calgary, and Victoria.
While Eastern Canada boasts magnificent maritime provinces and cities like Halifax and St. John’s, the Northern part mesmerizes visitors with great rivers and polar bears in the Nahanni National Park. However, even for the dwelling Canadians, the entertainment is not lacking by any means. In fact, there are three venues in the country that can cater to the entertainment-cravings of any and every Canadian.
Commonwealth Stadium
Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton
The Commonwealth Stadium is the largest open-air stadium in Canada. The stadium was originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, which is the reason behind its name as well. When finished, it replaced the adjacent Clarke Stadium as the home of the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The stadium has hosted five Grey Cups; needless to say it’s the most popular sports stadium in Canada.
The Commonwealth Stadium has a seating capacity of 56,302. It has two twin-tier grandstands along each side that total to 44,032 seats while the remaining 12,386 seats are in the corners and end zones. The seating is divided into 3 different colours (dark green, light green, and yellow) and features a mix of standard and executive seats.
The stadium hosts several different sports and events. After Canadian football, the next popular event at the stadium is soccer. Soccer tournaments include nine FIFA World Cup qualification matches with Canada Men’s National Soccer Team, the 1996 CONCACAF Men’s Pre-Olympic Tournament, two versions of the invitational Canada Cup, the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Apart from this, the Commonwealth Stadium also hosts athletics, ice hockey, rugby, and even some concerts.
Montreal Casino, Montreal
The Montreal Casino, the largest casino in Canada, is located on the Notre Dame Island borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec. The casino goes all the way to 1993 when the government of Quebec created the Société des casinos du Québec (SCQ) and tasked them to build casinos in the province in 1992. In its very first year, the casino saw foot traffic of over 780,000 people excluding the 700 people it employed. Today, 2,800 people work at the premises.
The Montreal Casino is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to everyone aged 18 or above. It consists of three interconnected buildings, although two of them, the France Pavilion and the Québec Pavilion, were built for Expo 67. The main building, however, has six floors and caters to patrons on a massive 526,488 square foot gaming floor.
Considering all the three buildings, the Montreal Casino boasts over 3200 slot machines, over 115 gaming tables, and several other speed lotteries, virtual games, and Keno facilities. Though the casino doesn’t offer the UK casinos’ pay by phone facilities, it does have four restaurants, meeting and banquet halls, and three bars. The casino is particularly known for its numerous windows, low ceilings, and no dedicated smoking areas.
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
Scotiabank Arena is a multi-purpose arena located on Bay Street in the south Core district of Downtown Toronto. This 665,000 square foot arena was the 13th busiest arena in the world and the busiest in Canada. This is only understandable since it’s the home of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League (NLL).
Originally constructed in 1999 for the Toronto Raptors, the arena today hosts several political conventions, sports events, video game competitions, and concerts. Notable sports tournaments at the venue are the 2000 NHL All-Star Game, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the championship game of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, the 2015 and 2017 editions of World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, and the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. Among concerts, Scotiabank Arena has hosted some of the most attended tours in Canada and the world. The biggest artists to perform at the arena in 2020 alone are Elton John in march, Niall Horan in may, Harry Styles in July, and Camila Cabello in September.
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