Prince George City Council had a brief discussion on the recent move to going cashless at the CN Centre at this week’s meeting.
According to Director of Civic Facilities and Events Andy Beesley, Levy Canada operates food and beverage services at the arena, and they made the decision to make the move to cashless.
“They’re basing it on improving accuracy at the tills, enhancing health and safety by limiting the handling of cash, and also aligning with the growing preference among guests for contactless payments,” Beesley explained.
“They have been faced, as have we, with years and years and years of serious criticism about the lineups at concessions, as you can imagine, when there’s 6,000 people at a Cougars game and 18 minute intermissions, lineups get long and people get frustrated because they’re going slowly, so this was a business decision made by them based on speeding up service as well as what they believe is the preference among the majority of guests.”
Beesley added the Prince George Cougars 50/50 kiosks, the Cougars Den team store, TicketsNorth and vending machines still accept cash.
At this week’s meeting, City Council received a letter of correspondence from Byron Roberts, a resident opposed to the change.
“This decision overlooks the needs of many residents who either do not use, or cannot use, electronic payment methods,” he wrote.
“Seniors, individuals, and those who rely on caregivers are especially affected.”
He added a decision of this magnitude should consider accessibility, inclusion, and fairness.
Councillor Cori Ramsay asked if having gift cards available to purchase with cash could be an option.
“Not everyone can have a debit card, that is a reality of the financial world,” Ramsay added.
“I work for a financial institution and we actively choose not to give people debit cards because of power of attorney issues, because of bad account practices, because of a myriad of reasons, and so it is a privilege, not a right to have a debit card, and to be able to use those types of tap services, still in 2025 unfortunately, that means a number of people could be disadvantaged by this policy.”
Beesley said it’s something that’s been used in other venues.
“I don’t have any data so I’m not going to argue for or against it,” he said.
“I’ve heard from Levy that it’s been extremely frustrating and difficult and not successful in other venues.”
He added it is something the City has asked about, and he’s waiting on more information.
Beesley also noted the City is keeping an eye on any complaints or feedback that people aren’t attending because they can’t use cash.
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