--- title: "Canadian Boycott of Las Vegas Becomes a Central Issue in Nevada’s Midterm Races" description: "Canadian visits to Las Vegas fell 17.4% last year, and overall visits have fallen the most since 1970 outside the pandemic" author: "rews desk" published: 2026-10-13T08:00:00Z modified: 2026-10-13T18:05:51Z url: https://rews.cc/a/canadian-boycott-of-las-vegas-becomes-a-central-issue-in-nev-ed59a4 language: en tags: ["trump", "economy", "politics", "tourism", "tariffs", "us"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Canadian Boycott of Las Vegas Becomes a Central Issue in Nevada’s Midterm Races *Canadian visits to Las Vegas fell 17.4% last year, and overall visits have fallen the most since 1970 outside the pandemic* By rews desk · October 13, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/canadian-boycott-of-las-vegas-becomes-a-central-issue-in-nev-ed59a4 ## In brief - Canadian visits to Las Vegas fell 17.4% last year; overall visits fell the most since 1970 outside the pandemic - Nevada Democrats and the 60,000-member Culinary Union are blaming Trump’s trade war - Casino CEOs told Trump the industry needs his help; he answered ‘Right.’ - Workers report shift cuts, and a Golden Knights game failed to sell out for the first time - The issue has surfaced in the governor’s race and a tight Las Vegas House contest Canadian travel to Las Vegas keeps falling, and Democrats in Nevada have turned the tourism slump into a centerpiece of the state’s midterm campaigns, [CBC News reported](https://cbc.ca/news/world/canadians-boycotting-las-vegas-election-issue-9.7375873) on Tuesday. Canadian visits to the city fell 17.4 percent last year, one of the sharpest declines on record, and overall visitor numbers are down 7.5 percent, the largest drop outside the Covid-19 pandemic since the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority began keeping records in 1970. Barely half of the rooms downtown were occupied in August, and airport data show Canadian airlines bringing even fewer passengers this year than last. “The Trump Slump is real, and Las Vegas tourism is tanking,” the state Democratic Party said in one campaign message. Another declares, “Nevadans are struggling under Trump’s tourism crisis.” The party and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, which represents about 60,000 casino and hospitality workers, are working to tie the decline to Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican whose once-comfortable race has tightened. ![A stylized roulette wheel sits on a teal background beside a waiter holding a tray, while a red maple leaf flies above it.](https://rews.cc/img/824eb522392a4e9c3fdb23a3eb418e55988fd148.webp) “Donald Trump is directly responsible for this — it’s all his fault and it’s totally unnecessary,” Diana Valles, the union president, said in an interview. “God knows why he’s doing it, Canadians are our biggest customer. But, at the end the day, Trump’s not paying any price. It’s the workers and the families that are here.” Casino executives say much the same thing, more gently. “If you look at a place like Canada, we are off considerably,” Bill Hornbuckle, the chief executive of MGM Resorts, said on a recent earnings call. In an Oval Office meeting with President Trump in September, Mr. Hornbuckle said an industry goal of 100 million international visitors a year depended on him: “Travel is difficult. We need your help, we need your direct involvement, and we know we can make this better.” Mr. Trump’s one-word response: “Right.” “There’s a unique flavour to what’s gone on with Canada,” said Tom Reeg, the chief executive of Caesars Resorts, discussing his company’s quarterly loss. What is unique is that visits from Mexico, also caught in a tariff dispute with Washington, are actually up slightly year over year while the Canadian number sinks. ![A suitcase decorated with the Canadian flag stands beside an unplugged slot machine on a teal background.](https://rews.cc/img/d4739493ad411778401d2583da6f70d6cb3ea9d7.webp) Martyn Daly of Winnipeg, who made the trip for years, has stayed away since Mr. Trump began threatening Canada’s sovereignty and imposing tariffs. “We don’t agree with the 51st state stuff,” he said. “Not going to Vegas is just our small way of saying, ‘We’re not going to take it.’” Mr. Daly said casinos now bombard him with free-night offers noticeably better than before the dispute, and some are accepting the Canadian dollar at par. Workers feel it where the statistics stop. Spencer Ridenour, a bartender at the Chandelier inside the Cosmopolitan casino, said his workplace is “losing customers left and right.” A Vegas Golden Knights game against the Toronto Maple Leafs failed to sell out on Thursday, a first in the franchise’s nine-year history. “I have not ID’ed a Canadian in months,” he said. “We are in a silent recession here in Las Vegas, and it is because of Donald Trump’s trade war.” Nevada’s unemployment rate is among the nation’s highest, and hospitality workers report more frequent shift cuts. State Republicans point to Mr. Trump’s “no tax on tips” policy, enacted last year, as relief for those very workers. If the customers stop tipping, workers note, the break means little. A spokesman for Mr. Lombardo did not respond to a request for comment. ![A cream hourglass on a teal background contains a falling gold coin, with an outstretched hand beneath it extending from a navy suit sleeve.](https://rews.cc/img/0fc593a32d542bf31d914c722de68e2a61844389.webp) The issue has also surfaced in House races. A 30-second ad for Representative Susie Lee, a Democrat in a tight suburban Las Vegas contest, mentions the trade war twice and says her Republican opponent, Marty O’Donnell, supports Mr. Trump’s “expensive” tariffs. Mr. O’Donnell has defended the policy as “a form of diplomacy to level the playing field on trade or to protect our national security.” David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said it was unusual for Canada to matter in any American election, let alone become a talking point in a swing state. “The Democrats are certainly playing this up quite a bit,” he said. “And these races probably wouldn’t be as close if it weren’t for the tariffs and the lack of Canadians coming across the border.” The trade war has become campaign material well beyond Nevada: in Maine, [a tariff-killed salmon farm is now campaigning against Senator Susan Collins](https://rews.cc/a/the-salmon-farm-tariffs-killed-is-now-campaigning-against-su-037ea6). Even a Democratic sweep in November would change little on that front, Mr. Damore said. “There’s nothing they can do about a president who goes out of his way to insult our neighbour and one of our biggest allies.”