Online Lottery in Canada

Like most countries around the world, the purpose of the lottery is to fundraise for public services, such as building roads and bridges, sewage systems, and bin collection. Indeed 1976, the lottery helped raise money to host the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

The lottery is thought to have been around for the best part of the 17th century in Canada, becoming more structured throughout the 1800s until the Canadian government decided to step in and ban the practice in 1875, which was shortly followed by a prohibition of all forms of gambling by 1892 as part of the Canadian Criminal Code.

Fewer than 100 years later, the Criminal Code was amended to allow lotteries to run once more for the funding of special nationwide projects both provincially and federally. In 1974 the first national lottery in Canada was held in what was referred to as the Canada Olympic Lottery, named as such because it helped raise money to host the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

In the modern era, Canadians can play three national lottery games - Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max, and the Daily Grand.

While there are three main national games, the Canada lottery landscape is vast. There are plenty of lotteries in Canada - here are a few examples:

The prize can vary significantly from a few dollars to millions. For example, popular lottery games such as LOTTO 6/49 and Lotto Max offer jackpots that start at $5 million and can go up to over $60 million. In addition, there are unique draws such as Super 7, which has seen an enormous payout of more than $50 million!

Progressive jackpots are also popular in Canadian lotteries. These increase every time the lottery is drawn without a winner, so it is impossible to put a cap on the maximum amount of money that can be won.

While the odds of winning a national lottery are monumental, there are still plenty of examples of players striking it big to win incredible money.

In the first half of 2023 alone, there have been three examples of multi-million dollar prizes going to lucky players.

Check them out below:

🎉 18 Year-Old Lands Big With First Try

At the beginning of 2023, teenager Juliette Lamour of Sault Ste Maria in Ontario won a Lotto 6/49 $48 million jackpot with her first-ever lottery ticket, which she bought for her birthday. Talk about beginners' luck!

🏖️ Retired Couple Have Best Days Ahead

Randy and Janice Glays, a Winnipeg couple who claimed to be previously living paycheque to paycheque, scooped a whopping $60 million jackpot from the LottoMax game back in April 2023 after purchasing a $6 quick-pick ticket in a St. Anne's Road Superstore.

💑 Anniversary Celebrations Will Escalate For This Lucky Pair

Lahsen Rezrazi and Debbie Ramsay, a couple from Victoria, bagged a vast $35 million Lotto Max jackpot just before their wedding anniversary - splitting the jackpot with another lucky winner.

It is perhaps stories like these, which all occurred within six months of the first half of 2023, which makes the Canadian lottery so exciting for so many.

There are some national statistics backing up the popularity of the lotto. For example, in 2018, Canadians spent over $7 billion on lottery tickets - that's a number that would have only increased over the past five years.

In those same figures, it was revealed the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) was the largest lottery corporation in Canada, with sales of $2.2 billion, while the the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is next highest, with sales of $2.1 billion in the same year.

There are several steps players can take to avoid the risks of gambling addiction from playing the lottery online in Canada.

They include:

1. Set a budget and stick to it: Before playing the lotto online, players should set a budget they can afford to lose without any adverse financial consequences.
2. Take regular breaks from gambling: It can help reduce excessive spending and addictive behavior.
3. Treat lotto betting as a form of entertainment: While it is possible to make money playing the lottery, the odds are stacked against the player.