Have Yourself a Merry Little Win: The Most Christmassy Casinos in Canada

_{Canadian casinos shine with holiday décor and winter charm as Tripadvisor reviews reveal the country’s most festive gaming destinations. (Image: Swift Current)}

We all have that one friend who absolutely loves Christmas. Like, it’s their whole personality. Just think about it for a second; you know who we mean. Tree up before Halloween, kids in matching pajamas, every single kitchen item swapped out for the Christmas version. 

On the other hand, you probably have a friend who’s a bit of a grinch. Refuses to watch The Holiday with you, swears they hate eggnog, and is all dressed in black at your holiday party. Well, you’ll either be pleased or downright horrified to hear that Canadian casinos are kind of the same.

A glittering winter wonderland in an opulent building in Quebec might sound a whole lot more Christmassy than a standard old casino in downtown Vancouver, but that’s not up to us to judge. To find out which Canadian casino is simply the most Christmassy, we headed to our most trusted advisor: Tripadvisor! 

We looked for keywords like “festive,” “holidays,” and “Christmas decorations,” and based on the number of times each word was mentioned, we ranked our casinos on a very special scale, from best to worst.

We studied these casinos to see which one came out on top. Here's our final ranking:

Let’s not keep you in suspense any longer. The casino that came out at the top of our list was Living Sky Casino, located in Saskatchewan. This one got a rating of 7.54% on our scale, with “holidays” and “Christmas” coming up most often. It can be as cold as -10°C in Saskatchewan in December, so we can think of nothing better than taking a seat at a slot machine, enjoying a warming drink in a restaurant, or gathering for a festive event to try to forget that the weather outside is indeed frightful. 

Living Sky has been described as one of the province’s top entertainment destinations, which is a lot to live up to, but it did an impressive job. 

One reviewer was impressed with the festive food, saying, “They serve Sunday breakfast, everyday lunches, suppers & specialty holiday meals also,” while another raved about the food at their company Christmas party, hosted at the casino.

In second place, Rideau Carleton Raceway & Casino, now Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Ottawa, had a decent rating of 4.69%, although this was based on just 12 keyword mentions out of 256 reviews. “New Year’s Eve” was actually the most popular keyword here, so perhaps this Ottawa casino is a bit of a party spot! Unfortunately, not everyone got lucky enough to usher in the new year with a jackpot, with one person saying, “I had not one bonus during New Year’s Eve.” 

Although at least one visitor thought the food was decent, saying, “We went here for the New Year’s Eve prime rib and lobster dinner celebration on an invite from friends. The lobster was great and the prime rib was okay.” But is that really the vibe you want on NYE? An okay prime rib? We’re not convinced.

Next up, Parq Vancouver got a rating of 3.62%; although with relatively few reviews, this was based on just five keyword mentions. 

But let’s not make any judgments too quickly – we first had to see what those five reviews actually said. The casino features a number of indulgent restaurants, regular events like live DJs and of course a spacious gambling area featuring two floors of slots and table games, so we were expecting some shining commentary here. “Fabulous NYE” was the title of one review, which went on to say, “The new casino is incredible. Beautifully designed.” It’s hard to argue with that!

Great Blue Heron Casino & Hotel was next on the list, with 3.33%. But again, the casino didn’t have a huge amount of reviews in the first place, so the rating here is based on seven keyword mentions. This casino in Port Perry, Ontario, has over 500 slot machines and 20 live tables, plus there’s a buffet to load up on some delicious food during your festive visit. 

Indeed, a lot of the positive reviews around Christmas called out the buffet, with one saying, “The dinner buffet on Xmas night is very good for the price with prime rib,” and another commenting, “We just had the buffet for Xmas day at 5pm sharp and it was just great – they concentrated on providing quality instead of a lot of mediocre stuff.”

Working our way a little further down the list, Casino Rama Resort came in at fifth place, but with 24 keyword mentions and a total score of 3.19%, this one did a lot better than some of the competition. 

In fact, the word “Christmas” alone was mentioned 10 times! The casino has several eateries, including a buffet and a bar and we spied some festive events coming up, like an Elvis-themed Christmas concert, which we’re almost certain will appeal to a few people. So, what did reviewers have to say? 

One person commented, “The casino is nicely decorated for Christmas; it always looks good no matter the season!! ,” while another said, “The Christmas Show was beautifully done with carols… Thanks, Casino Rama, for a beautiful start to the Christmas season.”

Red Shores Racetrack & Casino ranked just below Casino Rama, coming in at sixth place with a rating of 3.17% and seven keyword mentions. “Christmas” was the most popular word, mentioned a total of four times. If you’re a PEI native, you’re not exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to casinos, so we were pleased to see that this one at least got a decent rating. 

The reviews were positive, with one person saying, “We had my husband's family Christmas get-together here last night. The friendly atmosphere and setting made it easy to chat and feel welcome. The food was great. A huge selection of food for everyone,” while another mentioned, “Was here for a workplace Christmas lunch!! The buffet was excellent - lots of choices!! Service was great and the price was reasonable.” Phew.

We have to give an honorable mention to the casino that had the highest absolute number of keyword mentions, even though it only came in 11th place on our list. Niagara Fallsview Casino received a rating of 2.31% on our scale but had an impressive 98 keyword mentions. The word “Christmas” came up really often, at 34 times, while 25 reviews mentioned “holidays” and 20 said something about “winter.” 

If the name wasn’t enough of a giveaway, this casino is located right at Niagara Falls, which can make for some really dramatic winter scenery. One person complimented the festive entertainment, saying, "My wife, her sister, our brother-in-law and I attended the casino and enjoyed the 'Christmas on Ice' show at the theater. It was a great way to enjoy the joys of the season,” while the dedicated Christmas shop was also called out several times.

We hate to kill the Christmas buzz, but it’s time to talk about the casinos that really lack that festive feeling. 

We absolutely hate to see a casino with a rating of zero, but unfortunately one did achieve that dubious honor. ​​Grey Rock Casino in New Brunswick got absolutely no mentions of any of our festive keywords. 

Despite having almost 300 slots (including progressive jackpots), plus two restaurants and even an event space hosting New Year's celebrations, no one was particularly impressed. And indeed, we noticed reviews with titles like "Disappointing" and “Just Keep Driving”. “​​This is a cute little casino,” one review commented and the consensus seemed to be that it’s okay for a pit stop on a road trip – but maybe not somewhere to spend your Christmas break.

Casino de Charlevoix got an absolutely awful score of 0.19%, based on just one keyword mention. Hey, that’s better than nothing, right? Based on the fact that the casino looks a little like a castle from the outside, one would think it might be quite pretty over Christmas time. Plus, it’s nestled in a beautiful spot in between mountains, valleys and cliffs – guaranteed to be gorgeous when covered in snow. 

Just Google some pictures, like we did. But unfortunately, the reviews didn’t seem to agree – all we saw were comments saying things like “Basic casino…no atmosphere, no life” and “nothing special.” Even the person who mentioned a keyword was unhappy! Noting that they had to wait over an hour for food on a Friday night in winter. Although a few reviews did note the scenery and mention that it’s a good place to spend a few hours. 

Casino Moose Jaw also had just one keyword mention out of 283 reviews, giving it a rating of 0.35%. Yes, we’re serious. Just one keyword mention – one poor little reviewer who called out that they were there over the “holidays.” Other highlights included a review saying, “The renovated place was a disappointment from what the cozy casino of the past was.” Doesn’t sound very Christmassy, does it? 

We even spotted one review entitled “Run as fast as you can from this casino,” but to be fair, this person mainly had complaints about not winning. Either way, this might not be the best place to try to jingle all the way to a jackpot. 

Playtime Casino Kelowna ranked fourth from the bottom, also with one keyword mention, so we were pleased to get to the fifth-worst, Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall, where at least six people mentioned one of our keywords. Phew. With a rating of a whopping 1.05%, this one must be an absolute winter wonderland! 

One person even said the word “Christmas,” while two called out “holidays.” This is a fun, quirky casino with lots of entertainment, including the famous cancan dancers, so we assumed the Christmas entertainment would be decent. 

One person reminisced, saying, “I was born and raised in Dawson City, Yukon. This building (now named "Diamond Tooth Gerties") was our community hall when I was growing up. Christmas concerts were held on the beautiful stage, a huge Christmas tree was always in the hall at Christmas and the children enjoyed a visit with Santa Claus.” That’s great, it really is, but it tells us absolutely nothing about the casino nowadays. You know what? We give up. 

Methodology 

Casinos.com utilized Tripadvisor reviews to do an in-depth analysis of phrases associated with Christmas to determine the most Christmassy casino in Canada. We calculated the percentage of mentions in the total Tripadvisor reviews.

Keywords tracked: Christmas, Xmas, December, festive, holidays, NYE, New Year's Eve, winter break, winter getaway, Christmas decorations, Christmas lights, December trip, winter, Christmas deal, Xmas deals, Santa Claus 

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👉 If Canada’s New Year’s resolutions include having a little more fun in 2026, casinos might just be the perfect place to start.