15,000 Canadians visited Vegas in a month after 'at par' dollar exchange promo: 'Missing our Canadian friends'
A dollar-for-dollar Canada-U.S. exchange rate offer introduced by three off-strip Las Vegas casinos earlier this year resulted in more than 15,000 Canadian visitors in the first month of the promotion.
The surge of Canucks escaping winter doldrums resulted in more than 2,700 bookings at Circa Resort & Casino, the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino in Sin City through their shared Vegas At Par program, according to a press release . All the facilities are located on Fremont Street, a district separate from the iconic Las Vegas Boulevard, which generally offers a more affordable Vegas experience and is affectionately known as “Old Vegas.”
“The reason why we did it is because we’re missing our Canadian friends and tourists to Las Vegas,” Derek Stevens, owner of all three properties as well as the nearby Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, said in a social media video.
“Number one, I wanted to welcome Canadian tourists back to Vegas — make sure you know you got some friends out here in the desert. And No. 2, we wanted to give a great offer.”
AT PAR Update
— Derek Stevens (@DerekJStevens) March 3, 2026
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Learn more at:https://t.co/z04jCFrvSx https://t.co/M1FzY732mg pic.twitter.com/tkSIg3ccHf
Regardless of the daily exchange rate — which stood at .73 cents Canadian to every US$1 as of Thursday — the deal grants eligible Canadian guests US$1 in value for every CA$1 spent on “select gaming, hotel, beverage and entertainment offerings” until Aug. 31, 2026.
When it comes to the accommodations, guests who book directly with a hotel and check in using government-issued Canadian identification will pay the “full at par rate.” There is no limit on eligible stays and the offer also applies to taxes and resort fees.
According to its website, a night at the Circa, the newest and highest-rated of the three hotels at 4.5 stars on Google, a single night ranges from US$169 to $549, depending on the night. Rooms at the other hotels are, on average, less than half that price.
There are, however, some stipulations regarding gambling and drinks.
The beverage offer is limited to one bar at each of the hotels — BarCanada at the D, BarProhibition! at Golden Gate and Overhang Bar at Circa — where Canadians with the appropriate ID can enjoy limitless drinks at a discounted rate when paying with U.S. currency or by card.
As for gaming, using a free membership card good for any of the three casinos, Canadians can load up to CA$500 and receive an equivalent amount in American funds that can be used exclusively in casino floor slot machines and must be gambled within 72 hours.
Table games like poker or blackjack, electronic table games, video poker and wide area progressives are not included. Official rules in full are available online .
Importantly, any Canadian visiting Las Vegas can avail of the gaming and beverage offers, even if they’re not staying at one of the three hotels.
Stevens, in the news release, said the surge in Canadian interests is meaningful to him because of his “lifelong connection to Canada.”
In an earlier video announcing the promotion, talked about being raised in Grosse Pointe, MI, overlooking Windsor, Ont., from across Lake St. Clair, and could hear and see Canada from his bedroom.
“My dad went to the University of Toronto, got family from Toronto, to Leamington, to Windsor, and personally, for me, I spent a lot of my 19th and 20th years visiting great places in Windsor, like The Tugboat, Tunnel Bar-B-Q and Don Cherry’s,” he said.
In January, Stevens told the Windsor Star he was inspired by similar promotions offered by Detroit-area watering holes on nights the Red Wings were playing and drawing a contingent of Canadian hockey fans across the Ambassador Bridge.
“I always thought that was a pretty cool promotion, particularly when the exchange rate got a little bit too far out of whack. Kind of like I think it is now,” said Stevens.
“It was a great way to celebrate the Canadians visiting Detroit at that time. So I thought, maybe that’d be a good thing to do out here on a greater scale with Las Vegas and my hotel casinos.”
Stevens also announced this week that Canadian band Finger Eleven — an Ontario rock group originally known as the Rainbow Butt Monkeys — will play a free concert at the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall on June 27.
Meanwhile, the at-par pricing is also being offered on tickets for two April shows by B.C.-based DJ Excision at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center , also owned by Stevens.
“Bringing a Canadian artist like Excision to Downtown Las Vegas Events Center builds on that momentum, pairing real value with major entertainment and giving Canadian guests even more reasons to plan a trip downtown,” he stated.
Canadian traffic to Las Vegas, like other U.S. destinations, has declined significantly since Donald Trump and his administration’s sweeping tariff policies were introduced last year.
According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority , the Canadian visits declined 24 per cent in 2025, down from roughly 1.4 million in the year prior.
In January, an aviation consultant told local tourism officials that airline capacity from Canada was down 35 per cent last year, its lowest level since 2006, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.
And data from the Harry Reid International Airport last October shows tens of thousands fewer passengers on Canada’s major airlines.
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