River Cree Resort and Casino

River Cree Resort and Casino became the first aboriginal-owned casino in Alberta when it launched operations in October 2006. Located within the Enoch Cree Reserve at the corner of Whitemud Drive and Winterburn Road, the casino covers approximately 65,000 square feet. This area accommodates 40 table games and 600 slot machines as well as a 24-hour poker room. The cost of the construction of the facility amounted to about $178 million; this cost covered the construction of the casino and houses, restaurants and bars, two ice hockey rinks, and a nine-storey 255-room hotel that includes a swimming pool and fitness centre. Accordingly, the casino employs more than 200 First Nations individuals.

The casino is owned and managed by the Enoch Cree Nation which entered into partnership with Paragon Gaming Incorporated of Las Vegas, Nevada for the development of the River Cree Resort and Casino. Presently, there are 1,776 members of the Enoch population with an approximate of 1,400 individuals residing on the reserve while the remaining members live primarily in Edmonton.

The River Cree Resort and Casino has an advantage over its seven competitors within the Edmonton area because there are restrictions on smoking on reserve land. For this, the casino has designed 30% of its gaming floor as smoking areas.