Canada Day turned out to be quite eventful for some British Columbians who purchased tickets for Lotto 6/49 on July 1, 2023. According to the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, two players from the province managed to match the winning combination for the Classic Draw prize which is CA$5,000,000. There were also some smaller-scale wins in the province.
Lotto 6/49 is one of the leading titles when it comes to playing the lottery in Canada, and the game is drawn twice every week. Once on Wednesday and once on Saturday. Since September 2022, the game comes up with new rules as it offers a Classic Draw jackpot that is worth CA$5 million and a Gold Ball one that can eclipse CA$68 million.
Eventful Canada Day for B.C. Residents
Shortly after the last draw of the game, BCLC issued a statement confirming that no one managed to grab the Gold Ball windfall for the July 1 draw. But instead, two ticket holders from Western Canada have won the Classic Draw prize of CA$5,000,000. Now a player from Richmond B.C. and another one from Western Canada will each take home CA$2.5 million.
Due to security reasons, the names of the winners will be revealed only after they contact their respective provincial lottery and verify their wins. They have up to 52 weeks from the date of the draw to claim them. BCLC also reported that the chance of winning the Classic Jackpot in the popular Lotto 6/49 is 1 in 1,3,983,816 during the white ball draw.
However, the winnings do not end here, as the Crown corporation also revealed that a ticket holder from Vancouver B.C. will be taking home a CA$1 million payout. The winner matched the numbers 06142226-01 during the white ball draw. In addition to that, BCLC said two residents of Victoria and one of Vancouver won CA$10,000 in the guaranteed prize draw.
Just recently, the province of B.C. witnessed a major win in Lotto Max. In June Debbie Ramsay and her husband Lahsen Rezrazi were revealed as the winners of half a CA$70-million windfall. The other winning ticket went to an Ontario ticket holder, with both sides already cashing out a mega prize of CA$35 million each.
Jackpot Worth CA$70 Million Goes Unclaimed
In the meantime, the province of Ontario saw how a Lotto Max ticket worth CA$70,000,000 has remained unclaimed as of its deadline of June 28, 2023. The winning dates back to the June 28 draw from 2022 and went to someone in Scarborough. However, at the 10:30 p.m. deadline, no player was able to validate it at an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation terminal.
OLG shared that after the start of its awareness campaign for the winning ticket began, it received more than 1,100 calls from people who claimed to have lost the ticket. However, the search continues. The Crown explained that a dedicated team of lottery investigators would need to take the necessary time to review all of the made claims before the time limit.
Source: Silvestre, Irish Mae “Five BC lottery players won big this Canada Day” Daily Hive, July 3, 2023
