Which Province Has The Most Lotto Max Winners?

The top form of gambling in Canada is the lottery, and if you asked Canadians in different provinces which lotteries they prefer to play, most would answer Lotto Max. In this game, gamblers choose a set of numbers, and the jackpot prize goes to whoever chooses the numbers which are drawn.

With this being one of the top lotteries in the country, many players are curious about which provinces have the most winning tickets. A new statistic shows that Ontario and Quebec have sold winning tickets more than the other provinces. These provinces have higher sales than other parts of the country.

This article will examine the lotto sales throughout Canada and explain why Ontario and Quebec have the most Lotto Max winners. Read on to find out more.

Lottery Sales in Canada by Province in 2023

Many people question if the Lotto Max draw is rigged, but this isn’t the case at all. A random number generator generates all numbers for the games. Ontario and Quebec have sold more winning tickets than other provinces simply because more tickets were sold in these provinces. Gamblers don’t have an advantage from buying tickets sold at an Ontario store vs. a Prince Edward Island store.

To give you a better understanding of why this happens, let’s take a look at the annual sales for each province from the previous year. All numbers are the amount sold in millions.

• Ontario- 4,356
• British Columbia- 1,421.69
• Quebec- 1,074.71
• Alberta- 863.77
• Nova Scotia- 343.9
• New Brunswick- 315.26
• Newfoundland & Labrador- 296.52
• Saskatchewan- 235.33
• Manitoba- 221.21
• Prince Edward Island- 67.22
• North West Territories- 21.73
• Yukon- 12.81

Ontario Lottery Sales are Higher

Data shows that Ontario has the highest population, with 14,223,942. Roughly 2,93 million of those people live in the city of Toronto, with 6 million total in the Greater Toronto Area. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province in Canada, with a population of only 156,947. This is why you’ll likely hear of a winning ticket sold in Toronto more frequently than in Charlottetown.

Areas with higher populations will usually have more tickets sold for lotteries. That’s the main reason why more recent winners are from the Greater Toronto Area than other parts of Canada. It all comes down to the percentage of tickets sold through the Ontario lottery. On average, over $4 billion worth of lotto tickets is sold in Ontario each year.

Here is an example. If a convenience mart in Toronto sells 10 tickets for every 1 ticket sale at a store in Charlottetown, there is a greater chance of the winner being in Toronto. However, this statistic does not mean that retailers in a less populated province won’t sell winning stubs.

This statistic doesn’t mean that you don’t stand a chance at the lotteries if you’re from another province. Atlantic Canada has smaller and less populated provinces. However, there have been more winners in this part of Canada over the past few years. For example, $60 million was won in 2018 in Newfoundland (which was the largest win in Atlantic Canada to date), and $17.4 million was won in Cape Breton in 2020. Some other big wins were in Cox’s Cove, NL, Port Aux Basques, NL, and New Maryland, NB.

Lotto Result Accuracy

A lot of customers across the country have been asking for more transparency when it comes to lotteries and winnings numbers. While tickets are sold at retailers across the nation and through online lotteries, more winners continue to be from the same province.

Even lotteries are at risk of fraud. That is why each province uses a strict security system. In 2010, a system called DART (Data Analysis Retrieval Technology) was introduced and can keep a log of all ticket sales throughout the country. There have been disputes over wins from lotteries in the past, but DART can now narrow down on a specific buyer to collect their information when an investigation has been opened.

To ensure the results of all lotteries are honest, the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation oversees all activity, and every gambling jurisdiction in Canada must go through them. This means Ontario has no advantage over Atlantic province sales for winning numbers.

Lotteries by Province

Lotto Max, Lotto 649, and Daily Grand are available throughout every province in Canada. On top of that, each province will have separate lotteries. Tickets can be purchased online or through retailers (such as convenience stores or grocery marts).

Every game will have a specific date the draw takes place. For Lotto Max, the draw takes place on Tuesday and Friday evenings. The RNG will generate 7 numbers and 1 bonus number during this draw. If someone has a ticket with all of these numbers, they will win the jackpot prize. Other smaller prizes will be rewarded to players with a set amount of matching numbers.

Sometimes the jackpot draw can get as high as $70 million. When this happens, retailers see a higher volume of sales. That is one of the main reasons why retailers often sell winning tickets in highly populated areas.

Provincial governments regulate all sales. A large portion of the profit from lottery sales goes back to the community. The money goes towards healthcare services, education, and other government-regulated services.