Answers to the most common questions about Canadian lotteries — games, odds, prize claims, regional add-ons, and more. Jump to a category or browse all.
The guaranteed minimum jackpot is $10 million. It grows each draw it is not won and is capped at $80 million, with overflow going to MAXMILLIONS $1 million prizes.
You have 52 weeks (one year) from the draw date to claim a Lotto Max prize. Claim procedures vary by province — prizes over $1,000 typically require an in-person claim at the regional lottery office.
No. Lottery winnings from Canadian provincial lotteries are not taxed as income. However, any interest earned on the winnings after you deposit them is taxable.
The Gold Ball is a secondary jackpot drawn from one of the balls in the main draw. It starts at $1 million and grows by $1 million each draw until won, capped at $68 million. Every $3 ticket is automatically entered.
No. Canadian lottery winnings are not taxed as income, whether received as a lump sum or as annuity payments. Interest earned after the money is deposited is taxable.
The remaining balance up to the 20-year guarantee is paid to the winner's estate or designated beneficiary. Payments stop after the 20-year guarantee if the winner has already received it.
Among national games, Daily Grand has the best jackpot odds (1 in 13.3 million for the top prize). Lotto 6/49 Classic is second (1 in 14 million), and Lotto Max is third (1 in 33 million). Regional games like BC/49 have even better odds but much smaller prizes.
Yes, linearly. Two tickets doubles your chance at the jackpot, ten tickets multiplies it by ten. But the expected value of each ticket stays negative — you are buying more exposure to a game with a house edge of roughly 50 cents on the dollar.
Because they include every prize tier — including free-play rewards. Most wins at 'overall odds' levels are free plays, not cash. Cash-prize odds alone are significantly worse than the advertised 'overall' number.
From a pure odds standpoint, no — every draw is independent. However, larger jackpots attract more players, which means more ways the jackpot can be split if multiple people win. The expected value per ticket is actually slightly worse on record-cap jackpot nights because of higher split risk.
Yes. Each Canadian lottery corporation only pays out prizes for tickets purchased from its own retailers. If you bought a Lotto Max ticket in BC but live in Ontario, you claim at BCLC, not OLG.
Yes. Non-residents can claim Canadian lottery prizes. The ticket must still be a valid Canadian lottery ticket purchased from an authorized retailer in Canada.
For most jackpot-level wins, yes — public disclosure of name and city is standard. Privacy exemptions exist in some provinces for documented safety concerns, but are not granted for general preference.
You can use a lawyer to assist with the process, but the winning ticket holder must typically appear in person for prize verification and public-disclosure requirements at the jackpot level.
Signed tickets may be recoverable in some circumstances with strong proof of ownership. Unsigned lost tickets are bearer instruments — whoever has them can typically claim. Always sign the ticket immediately.
Lotto 6/49 has better jackpot odds per dollar spent. Lotto Max has slightly better 'overall odds of winning any prize' (1 in 7 vs 1 in 6.6) — but that Max number includes free-play wins, not cash.
Lotto 6/49 has the best combination of jackpot odds and cash-prize frequency. Daily Grand has slightly better raw top-prize odds but its 'jackpot' is an annuity, not a lump sum.
Regional lotteries often have better per-play jackpot odds (smaller number pools) but much smaller top prizes. For raw odds on any prize, regional games can beat national — but for life-changing money, the national games are the only realistic option.
Scratch tickets typically have the worst EV of all Canadian lottery products — they're designed for entertainment pricing rather than payout optimization. Among draw games, no national game is significantly worse than the others on a per-dollar basis.
Encore is drawn on the same schedule as the main OLG game you attached it to. For Lotto Max that's Tuesday and Friday; for Lotto 6/49 that's Wednesday and Saturday.
BC Extra uses eight digits (four 2-digit pairs matched in any order), whereas Western Extra uses a single 7-digit number matched in exact order from the right.