A dollar-for-dollar currency promotion at three downtown Las Vegas casinos pulled in more than 120,000 Canadian visitors over eight months, its owner says. (Image: Robin Guess/Alamy)
More than 120,000 Canadians visited three downtown Las Vegas casinos during an eight-month promotion that treated their currency as equal to the U.S. dollar.
Circa Resort and Casino owner Derek Stevens announced the results in a video posted to X/Twitter on Aug. 31.
The “At Par” promotion ran at Circa, the D Las Vegas and the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino from January through Aug. 31.
Under the offer, Canadian guests received US$1 in value for every C$1 spent on select gaming, hotel and beverage charges, instead of the market exchange rate of roughly 72 cents.
“During this summer, we had 120,000 Canadians that came through our properties,” Stevens said in the video. “That's up 80% from last year, so Canadians came through in a real big way.”
Stevens said the promotion generated more than 8,000 room bookings, more than double the properties' usual Canadian visitation.
A companion slot element, which let Canadian guests redeem a voucher worth up to US$500 at the 1-for-1 rate, produced US$20 million in slots play.
“There were many nights along Fremont Street where it felt completely taken over by Canadians, and we loved every minute of it,” Stevens said.
Stevens launched the promotion in January, when three downtown casinos began treating Canadian dollars as equal to the U.S. dollar, amid a broader decline in Canadian visits to Las Vegas.
Within its first three months, at-par pricing had already pulled 50,000 Canadians across the border, a number that has since more than doubled.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimated that Canadian visitation fell roughly 24% between January and November 2025 compared with the prior year.
Air Canada and WestJet both reported steep drops in Canada-to-Vegas traffic over the same period.
In March, the LVCVA board approved a three-year marketing agreement worth just under US$3.5 million aimed at rebuilding Canadian tourism to the city.
Stevens has not said whether Circa plans to bring the promotion back for a second run in 2027, but the year-over-year jump in visitation gives him a clear case for trying.
Shane Donnelly is an experienced journalist, writer, and editor who has been working in the online gambling ecosystem for seven years, and the media industry in general for well over a decade. Specializing in the Canadian market, Shane keeps a keen eye on industry trends, market movements, and innovations in gaming tech, always with player welfare at the forefront of his mind. When not staying on top of the latest iGaming developments, he can be found playing water polo with his local team, where he struggles to stay afloat.
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