The 777 bus put me down at the entrance, not at a corner three blocks away. It had come from Jean-Drapeau métro, crossed the De la Concorde bridge and pulled up under the canopy while the building glowed white above the river. From the road the thing reads like a ship, or a fan standing on edge, depending where you stand. That is the old France Pavilion of Expo 67, plus the old Québec Pavilion beside it, joined into one casino.
The door check was quick. An agent asked for photo ID, glanced at it, waved me through – and the rule is literal: 18 or older, a physical card, no photocopies and no picture of your licence on a phone. Inside, the first surprise was the light. Windows, clocks, daylight when there is daylight, which is not how most gaming floors are built.
The second surprise was the air. No cigarette smell anywhere, because smoking has been out since the provincial rules of the mid-2000s closed the last smoking rooms. What you get instead is the flat electronic chatter of several thousand slot machines, layered across floors, with a three-storey digital wall throwing colour over the middle of it all.
Where it is, how to get there, and what parking is like
Key numbers first, then the trip.
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Fact |
Detail |
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Opened |
October 9, 1993, in the former France Pavilion of Expo 67 |
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Operator |
Société des casinos du Québec, a subsidiary of Loto-Québec |
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Address |
1 avenue du Casino, Montréal, QC H3C 4W7, Île Notre-Dame |
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Hours |
Sunday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 3 a.m.; Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. |
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On site |
Over 3,000 slot machines, 84 gaming tables, poker lounge, sports betting terminals, ARcade |
|
Minimum age |
18, valid photo ID required |
The casino sits in Parc Jean-Drapeau, five minutes from downtown and a 30-minute drive from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. Bus 777 runs year-round between Jean-Drapeau métro and the casino door, timed to connect with the first and last métro and REM departures; a short-route version marked “X – Ligne courte” shuttles only between the station and the casino when frequency matters. If you would rather walk from the métro, budget about 20 minutes across the island. From outside the city, Groupe Voyages Québec runs pick-ups in the Québec City area, Voyages Blainville on the North Shore and Voyages Arc-en-ciel in Mauricie.
Parking is free, indoor and outdoor, with electric-car charging stations. Spaces are limited, which matters on a Saturday night. Valet is not offered.
Hours and when to go
Listed hours are 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Round-the-clock operation was the norm here from 1997 until the pandemic, and some directories still repeat it, so the closing hour is the one thing worth confirming before a late night out.
The transit timetable closes earlier than the casino does. One visitor account puts the last public connection at 00:45 Sunday to Friday and 1:15 on Saturday, which leaves a gap of two to four hours if you stay to the end. Plan a taxi, or plan to leave before the bus stops.
Winter weekends draw crowds; a Saturday night in January is the version of this place with full tables and a busy buffet line. A weekday afternoon is the opposite – daylight on the river, empty chairs, dealers with time to explain a game.
What is inside: floors, machines and tables
Three buildings are joined together, with six floors in the centre one, and gaming spread across several levels. The official count is over 3,000 slot machines and 84 gaming tables, plus electronic terminals, a poker lounge and sports betting terminals. Older directories cite higher table numbers; 84 is what the operator publishes now.
Two areas stand out from the standard rows of machines. The Zone opened in December 2014 as a group space where blackjack, baccarat, craps and roulette are taught at some of the lowest stakes on the property, with a bar and a DJ on certain nights. ARcade, in the Pavillon du Québec, is an augmented-reality multiplayer room rather than a gambling pit.
Le Cabaret du Casino holds up to 604 people and reopened in summer 2015 after a 22 million dollar renovation, in black and gold, with a 3D psychoacoustic sound system. Programming runs from tribute concerts and Québec singers to comedy, opera nights, drag shows and professional boxing cards; Mario Pelchat played three added dates there in September 2023. Members of the free Casino Privilèges club get 15 percent off Cabaret tickets, and the same card works at Lac-Leamy, Charlevoix, Mont-Tremblant and the Trois-Rivières gaming hall.
What runs under this name away from the island is a different question, and an independent review site documents what actually operates as Casino de Montreal online versus what only borrows the brand.
Where to eat and what it costs
Restaurant Le Montréal is the à la carte room. Pavillon 67 is the buffet, and it is the venue guests bring up most often, usually for the seafood and the desserts. At the bar-side kitchen you get burgers, club sandwiches, salads and Montréal smoked meat, served Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 a.m.
Le Roi bar, on the first floor, runs until 2:30 a.m. Sunday to Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday, under a 21-metre multimedia wall that climbs three storeys over a dancefloor and a stage used for free live sets. Terrasse Le Jardin operates in summer: Thursdays with a bistro menu from 6 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 7 p.m. with cocktails and Latin music.
Dinner-and-show packages at the Cabaret are priced at 62 dollars on Thursday and Sunday, with arrival between 5 and 5:30 p.m., and 79 dollars on Friday and Saturday, with arrival at 4:30 p.m.; both figures include gratuity, taxes and ticketing fees. The fine-dining end of the property thinned out when L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon closed permanently in 2021.
Rules that catch first-timers
Alcohol stays in the bar areas. You cannot drink while you are actively playing a machine or a table, which regulars from Nevada find strange and say so in reviews. Free self-service stations with coffee, soda and juice sit on the gaming floors instead.
There is no formal dress code for the floor, but clothing that depicts violence or is associated with a recognised violent group is refused. The 18+ rule covers the whole property, including the bars, the restaurants and the Cabaret.
There is no hotel on site, and nearby lodging is a drive rather than a walk; a 200-room Germain hotel has been announced nearby, set for 2026-2027.
Is it worth the trip
Three things it does well:
1) Getting there and parking cost nothing extra – bus 777 runs to the door year-round, and indoor and outdoor parking is free with EV charging.
2) The floor is entirely non-smoking and full of windows and clocks, so an evening here does not feel sealed off from the hour or the weather.
3) Newcomers have somewhere to start: The Zone teaches blackjack, baccarat, craps and roulette at some of the lowest stakes in the building.
Two things that will annoy some visitors:
1) Public transit stops running hours before the casino closes, and with no valet and limited spaces, a busy Saturday turns the last leg into a taxi problem.
2) Table variety is thinner than the building’s scale suggests – visitors single out the single hybrid craps table – and the no-drinking-while-playing rule is strictly applied.
Entry is restricted to those 18 and over; set a budget before you go and treat gambling as paid entertainment, not income.