Lotteries in Canada
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LOTTO MAX
is a Canadian lottery game coordinated by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, a group representing the five regional lotteries that operate in the country. Introduced on September 19, 2009, with its first draw occurring on September 25, 2009, the game replaced Lotto Super 7, and holds drawings on Friday nights.
Lotto Max is played similarly to its predecessor, with players selecting seven numbers from a field of 49. A single board costs $5, and each purchased board also includes two additional quick picks. The main drawing features a jackpot prize starting at CDN$10 million. The jackpot was previously capped at $50 million; beginning with the July 17, 2015 drawing, the maximum jackpot is now $60 million. Once the jackpot prize reaches at least $50 million, "
MaxMillions" draws are conducted for prizes of $1 million each. MaxMillions prizes are carried over until they are won, and additional MaxMillions prizes are added for each week a main jackpot of at least $50 million is not won. Once a jackpot is won, unclaimed MaxMillions prizes are placed into the main jackpot for the next drawing (or the jackpot is reset to $10 million if no MaxMillions prizes remain.) As with all Canadian lottery jackpot games, winners receive their prizes in a tax-free lump sum.
The launch of
Lotto Max was successful, attracting higher revenue in its first 10 months of operation than Super 7 did in its best year of sales. A representative of OLG attributed Lotto Max's popularity to the size of its total prize pools (which approach the larger jackpots seen in U.S. lotteries), and the perception of consumers that the MaxMillions system increased the probability that they could win a major prize.
Lotto Max is administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, which works with the five regional lottery corporations owned by the 10 provinces and 3 territories. Retailers receive from the lottery a percentage for tickets sold by their store (the money is not taken from the prizes.) Retailer agreements vary by jurisdiction.
The July 6, 2012 drawing had a total prize pool of $100 million, with a $50 million jackpot and 50 potential
Maxmillions prizes. Three consecutive weeks of rollovers fuelled the large payout, which marked the largest Lotto Max drawing under the previous caps.
The July 17, 2015 drawing was the first held under new rules allowing the main jackpot to exceed $50 million. The $55 million prize was won by a group of 20 employees of a Rona store in Quebec. It was the second-largest lottery jackpot in Canadian history, behind a $63.4 million Lotto 649 drawing in 2013. The record was surpassed as the second-largest on September 25, 2015 by the first ever Lotto Max drawing for $60 million, with a single winning ticket sold in Brampton, Ontario.
LOTTO 649
is one of two national lottery games in Canada. Launched on June 12, 1982,
Lotto 649 was the first nationwide Canadian lottery game to allow players to choose their own numbers. Previous national games, such as the Olympic Lottery, Loto Canada and Superloto used pre-printed numbers on tickets. Lotto 649 led to the gradual phase-out of that type of lottery game in Canada.
Winning numbers are drawn by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation every Wednesday and Saturday, executed with a Smartplay Halogen II ball machine.
The largest single jackpot record in Canadian lottery history was drawn on October 17, 2015 for a jackpot of $64 million. The jackpot was won by one ticket purchased in Mississauga, Ontario.
The second largest jackpot was $63.4 million which was drawn on April 13, 2013.
The third largest
Lotto 649 jackpot was drawn on October 26, 2005. The single winning ticket, worth $54.3 million, was purchased in Camrose, Alberta by a group of 17 oil and gas plant workers. The $54.3 million jackpot was originally estimated at $40 million, but because of rapid sales created by lottery fever across the country, the jackpot increased to $54,294,712. An estimated $99.4 million worth of tickets were sold. It was exceeded as the second-largest Canadian lottery jackpot overall in July 2015 by a Lotto Max draw with a $55 million jackpot.
The third largest Lotto 649 jackpot was worth $50.3 million, was drawn on February 21, 2009. There were four winning tickets: three in Ontario and one in Quebec.
The largest Lotto 649 jackpot, when tickets were $1 per play, was $26,410,706 on September 2, 1995.
The
Lotto 649 game is administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, an alliance of the five regional/provincial lottery corporations that cover all of Canada. Each of these corporations operate two regional add-on games that, for an extra $1 each, can be added to a 6/49 ticket. One of them is a "spiel" game (named "Tag", "Encore" or "Extra" depending on the region), which adds a 6- or 7-digit number to the ticket with a top prize of $100,000 if all six digits are matched or $250,000 to $1,000,000 depending on the region for a seven-number match ($1,000,000 in Ontario; $500,000 in Quebec; $250,000 in the Western Canada region). The other is the "49" game (named "Atlantic 49", "Quebec 49", "Ontario 49", "Western 6/49" or "BC 49" depending on the region), which works in analogous fashion to the Lotto 649 but with a fixed jackpot of $1,000,000 ($2,000,000 in BC 49, Western 6/49 and Quebec 49). In some regions, one line costs 50 cents; while in others, the "49" game is sold two lines at a time at a cost of $1.
WESTERN MAX
, WESTERN MAX draws are held every Friday. Tickets can be purchased until 9:30 pm CT, 8:30 pm MT and 7:30 pm PT on the date of the draw.
WESTERN MAX is available only in the Prairie Provinces and the Territories, For just $2, you receive three seven-number selections - you can choose to select one set of numbers and the Ticket Terminal will select two more!
Play responsibly!
Never play more than you can afford to lose!
Do not forget: Your chances of winning are significantly smaller than your chances to lose. Play responsibly.
And Good Luck!
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