Ontario Racing has reached the halfway point of their consultation period regarding the proposed long-term funding proposal for the horse racing industry in Ontario, and have released the following update:

A warm thank you to all industry participants who have taken the time to attend these sessions in person, and to those who have submitted their feedback to us online and in writing. The interaction and discussion with industry participants in local racing communities has been both positive and overdue.

As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that we reach as many racing industry participants as possible, we will be implementing a second phase of consultation. We will be releasing a preliminary consultation report, shortly after our last in person consultation event on November 22nd. This preliminary report will be available for additional industry review and comment, before it is submitted to the OR Board of Directors, OLG and government, to inform the next steps in funding negotiations.

As we move towards the end of this first phase of our consultation, we encourage industry participants to join us at our next in person sessions in Ottawa on Wednesday November 16th, in Port Perry on Saturday November 19th, and in Milton on Tuesday November 22nd. We also encourage industry participants to access our online feedback portal, which can be found here.

Phase two of this consultation will begin when the preliminary consultation report has been composed; this will be shared through our mailing list, posted online, and discussed directly with all industry association groups. We will allow a further 30 days for feedback on the preliminary report, as part of our commitment to ensure that industry views and perspectives on next steps towards a sustainable racing future are well represented by Ontario Racing.