Casino Regina
A casino and entertainment venue housed in Regina's former Union Station in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Casino Regina is a casino and entertainment venue located on Saskatchewan Drive in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It occupies the city's former Union Station, a prominent railway building whose history predates the casino by more than eight decades. The venue is owned and operated by Sask Gaming and combines gaming, live entertainment, food service, and heritage-focused visitor experiences within a repurposed historic structure. The building was completed in 1912 as Regina's third railway station and was designed in the Beaux-Arts tradition. Its construction followed the removal of an earlier Canadian Pacific Railway station, which was dismantled and relocated to Broadview. The new Union Station opened during a difficult year for Regina, when the Regina Cyclone caused extensive destruction in parts of the city. The station was later expanded in 1931, when portions of the exterior were simplified in an Art Deco direction and the interior received features including terrazzo flooring, marble columns, and moulded plaster ceilings. Union Station remained an important transportation facility until passenger-rail cutbacks led to its closure in 1990. The vacant building was designated a heritage site in November 1991, preserving its historical importance while its future use was considered. In 1995, a reported C$37 million conversion project began to adapt the station for casino operations. Casino Regina opened in 1996 as Saskatchewan's second casino, giving the former station a new commercial and entertainment role while retaining visible elements of its railway identity. The venue's offering includes approximately 800 slot machines, 35 table games, and an eight-table poker room, according to the referenced encyclopedia material. Its 800-seat Show Lounge provides a setting for entertainers, while dining and hospitality facilities include The Union Station and Rail Car restaurants, the CPR Lounge, and a VIP Lounge. The property also offers regularly scheduled historic tours and nightly LED presentations, extending its appeal beyond gambling. Several architectural and interpretive details connect the casino to the building's earlier life. The former station concourse contains a high ceiling, chandeliers, and a clock, while a displayed railway schedule records arrivals and departures from the day the station closed in 1990. Former railway police jail cells remain in the basement. The site also contains evidence associated with reported underground passages, although parts of the historic tunnel system were destroyed during later construction in downtown Regina. Casino Regina is therefore positioned as both a gaming property and a heritage-reuse destination. Its identity is tied to the preservation and reinterpretation of a major railway landmark, while its operating proposition is built around casino games, live shows, food and beverage service, and tourism-oriented historical attractions. The referenced material describes the venue as a significant local employer, with 664 employees and more than half identified as Aboriginal; no current employment figure is supplied here.
History
Casino Regina operates from a building whose history began with Regina's railway expansion rather than with gaming. The city’s former Union Station was built in 1911–12 as Regina’s third train station. An earlier station, originally associated with the Qu'Appelle, Long Lake and Saskatchewan Railroad and Steamboat Company and later leased to the Canadian Pacific Railway, had been replaced in 1897. That brick-and-stone station was dismantled in 1911 and moved to Broadview, clearing the site for the new Union Station. The replacement station was completed in 1912 in a Beaux-Arts style. Its opening coincided with the year of the Regina Cyclone, a destructive storm that affected Wascana Park and damaged parts of the downtown area. In 1931, the building was expanded and its original façade was altered to a simpler Art Deco appearance using Tyndall stone. Interior work added or enhanced terrazzo floors, marble support columns, and plaster moulded ceilings. These features helped establish the building as an important architectural and civic landmark. The station remained part of Regina’s transportation infrastructure for decades. Via Rail cutbacks led to its closure in 1990, leaving an historically significant but functionally vacant building. Its future was uncertain for several years, but the property received official heritage-site designation in November 1991. This status provided an important framework for its subsequent reuse. A reported C$37 million construction project began in 1995 to transform the former station into a casino. The project created Saskatchewan’s second casino while adapting a protected railway structure for a new public use. Casino Regina opened in 1996. Rather than removing the building’s earlier identity, the venue incorporated railway-related architectural and interpretive elements into its visitor experience. The former main concourse remains a central interior space, with a high ceiling, simple chandeliers, and a clock near the rear wall. A schedule board records the train arrivals and departures listed for the day the station closed. Former railway police jail cells survive in the basement. The building also contains evidence associated with a reported tunnel system extending beneath parts of downtown, although tunnels in the broader system were destroyed during construction of the Cornwall Centre. As a casino, the property offers slot machines, table games, poker, entertainment, dining, and lounges. The referenced material describes approximately 800 slot machines, 35 table games, and an eight-table poker room. Its 800-seat Show Lounge hosts entertainers, and the venue operates restaurants and hospitality spaces under names that recall the railway building, including The Union Station, Rail Car, CPR Lounge, and VIP Lounge. Historic tours and nightly LED shows add non-gaming attractions. Casino Regina’s significance thus rests on two connected histories: the civic and architectural history of Union Station and the later development of regulated casino entertainment in Saskatchewan. The conversion preserved a landmark after the end of its railway function and made it a recognizable downtown destination. The available reference also describes the casino as a substantial local employer, reporting 664 employees and an Aboriginal workforce share of more than 50 percent. That employment information is historical in the supplied material and should not be treated as a current figure without a newer source.
- 1996
Casino Regina opens
[1]The converted Union Station opens as Casino Regina, described in the reference material as Saskatchewan's second casino.
- 1995
Conversion project begins
[1]A reported C$37 million project begins to convert the vacant station into a casino.
- 1991
Heritage-site designation
[1]The former station is designated an official heritage site in November.
- 1990
Union Station closes
[1]Passenger-rail cutbacks lead to the closure of Regina's Union Station.
- 1931
Station expansion and redesign
[1]The station is expanded, and its façade and interior are altered, including the addition or enhancement of Tyndall stone, terrazzo, marble, and moulded plaster details.
- 1912
Union Station is completed
[1]Regina's third railway station is completed in a Beaux-Arts style and begins its role as a major transportation building.
Products and positioning
A Regina gaming and entertainment destination differentiated by its location in a preserved former railway station and by the combination of casino play, live performances, hospitality, and heritage interpretation.
Casino gaming
Slot machines
Electronic gaming is a core part of Casino Regina's offering. The referenced material describes the property as housing approximately 800 slot machines, making machine gaming one of the venue's principal visitor propositions.
Casino gaming
Table games
Casino Regina provides table-game gambling alongside its electronic gaming floor. The available reference describes approximately 35 table games, although it does not identify the individual games or provide a current operating count.
Casino gaming
Poker room
The venue includes a dedicated poker room. The supplied reference describes it as having eight tables, positioning poker as a distinct offering within the broader casino floor.
Live entertainment
Show Lounge
The 800-seat Show Lounge provides a performance setting for entertainers and broadens Casino Regina's role beyond gaming. The available material does not specify a permanent programme or particular artists.
Hospitality
Dining and lounges
Food and beverage facilities include The Union Station and Rail Car restaurants, as well as the CPR Lounge and VIP Lounge. Their names and setting reinforce the property's connection to the former railway station.
Heritage attraction
Historic Union Station tours
Regularly scheduled historic tours interpret the building's railway past and offer a visitor experience distinct from casino play. The reference does not provide a schedule or operating details.
Brand decisions
1995
Conversion of the heritage station into a casinoStrategyBackground
After Union Station closed in 1990 and received heritage designation in 1991, the vacant building required a viable new use.
Action taken
A reported C$37 million construction project adapted the former railway station for casino, entertainment, dining, and hospitality operations.
Aftermath
Casino Regina opened in 1996, preserving the building as a public destination while changing its primary function from railway transportation to gaming and entertainment.
Reported conversion-project cost. C$37 million (1995 construction project)
Sources2 sources
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