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May the odds be ever in your favour (even though, statistically, they’re very much not).
Friday’s $90 million Lotto Max draw will be the largest lottery jackpot prize ever available to win in Canada.
Draws take place every Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET. Tuesday’s previously record-setting $85-million jackpot went unclaimed and rolled over, which allowed the prize pool to keep growing.
Lotto Max, a national lottery, announced in April that it was increasing its jackpot cap from $80 million to $90 million — and its play price from $5 to $6 — but this is the first time it’s actually happened.
So, how does this compare to past jackpots? And what are the odds of winning?
Let’s break it down.
Previously, Canada’s biggest lottery prize was $80.4 million, won by a pair of long-time friends in London, Ont., last December. At the time, Greg S. and Krys P. said they’re still overcoming the shock. (OLG)
What are the odds of winning?
Don’t quit your job in anticipation just yet.
The odds of winning the main jackpot are one in 33 million per $6 play, according to OLG. You’re almost exactly as likely to flip a coin 25 times in a row and have it land on “heads” each time.
To put all that in perspective, the odds of being struck by lightning in Canada are less than one in a million, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
You’re actually far more likely to be struck and killed by an asteroid on your way to buy the ticket than you are of winning the $90-million jackpot. We’re sorry.
How does the $90M compare?
Yes, despite the odds, people do win the lottery. And the prizes keep growing.
Previously, Canada’s biggest lottery prize was $80.4 million, won by a pair of long-time friends in London, Ont., last December. They won the $80-million Lotto Max jackpot and the $403,285.40 second prize for in the combination play option.
At the time, the men, identified only as Greg S. and Krys P., said they weren’t sure how they would spend the money.
Before that, the top prize was claimed by a B.C. man who won the $80 million Lotto Max jackpot in May 2025. Justin Simporios of Surrey quit his job hours before the news conference where he claimed his cheque.
Lotto Max’s first $80-million draw in Sept., 2024, was split between two winning tickets sold in Ontario and Quebec. The first $70-million prize was in 2020, and the first $65-million draw was in 2019. (It was actually the second time the $65-million winner, a family in Montreal, had won the lottery).
The first Lotto Max draw for $60 million was in 2015, after they had changed the rules previously capping the jackpot at $50 million. Two years before that, however, a record-breaking $63.4 million Lotto 649 prize was split between four tickets.
Some of us may also recall when 17 oil and gas workers from Alberta split Canada’s biggest jackpot-to-date in 2005, a whopping $54 million. Before that, the previous lottery record was $37.8 million, offered in a Super 7 draw in 2002.
Canada’s first national lottery, however, dates back to 1974, when nine women from Quebec City split the prize of $1 million. The lottery had been to raise money for the Montreal Olympics.
A lottery official says gamblers should write their names on the ticket after purchase. Aired on CBC News on Jan. 12, 1974.
