Ontario’s bingo hall industry is in trouble. With Ontario’s new anti-smoking laws, bingo halls can expect a 25-40% drop in visitors. And that’s not the only thing hurting Ontario’s bingo industry. With the value of the Canadian dollar increasing, promotions offering players the chance to play with Canadian money, but collect prizes in American currency aren’t nearly as appealing to US players.

Bingo Country Holdings Limited Company (BCHLC) and CBC Bingo Limited Partnership (CBCBLP) may be of the first casualties created by the negative forecast. Northfield Inc. recently announced that it terminated agreements made with BCHLC to purchase management contracts and to purchase 4 million Canadian dollars of Secured Notes from CBCBLP. Since the collateral for the Secured Notes was to be the income from nine bingo halls, the recent downturn in the bingo industry has significantly reduced the value of the Secured Notes. Northfield Inc., a company which specializes in investing in mineral resource projects, has thus decided to terminate the deal which would have consolidated resources for the two operators.