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OVER $348 MILLION total

WCLC looks back on major lotto winners in 2021

Dec 30, 2021 | 10:53 AM

As Canadians across the country prepare to celebrate the New Year, lottery players in Western Canada Lottery Corporation’s region will also be looking back on major lottery wins.

In 2021, WCLC officials note that 81 prizes of $1 million or more were claimed on lottery tickets purchased across the prairies and in the North. Combined, those prizes total more than $348 million:

The largest lottery win of the year, a $60 million LOTTO MAX prize, was won in January by a ticket purchased in Winnipeg. The prize, the largest win in Manitoba’s lottery history, was split by four family members. The family said they were going to take their time deciding what to do with their windfall.

The second-largest win in the region this year came in October when a Saskatoon local took home a huge $55 million LOTTO MAX prize. While claiming his prize, the winner said he planned to share the windfall with family and close friends, and look into getting a luxury vehicle because, “I can buy it, so why not?!”

A few months earlier in August, a Pincher Creek, AB resident took home a $34,162,116.30 LOTTO MAX prize. After discovering what he won, the new multi-millionaire said he felt “Amazing. Phenomenal, actually!”

Officials say Northern Canada was also well-represented this year. Three prizes of $1 million were paid to three winners from the Yukon, and one prize of $1 million was paid to a Northwest Territory local.

Other prizes, ranging from $1 million to more than $27 million, were won in small towns and larger cities across the region.

Large city prize round-up:

Winnipeg – six wins totaling more than $65 million in prizes

Saskatoon – three wins totaling more than $58 million in prizes

Edmonton – 10 wins totaling more than $46.5 million in prizes

Calgary – 15 wins totaling more than $17 million in prizes

Regina – two wins totaling in $2 million in prizes

Wins by province and territory

Alberta

  • 56 winners of over $1 million and up
  • Largest win: $34,162,116.30
  • Total amount of million-dollar and up prizes: $151,362,420.96

Saskatchewan

  • 8 winners of over $1 million and up
  • Largest win: $55,000,000
  • Total amount of million-dollar and up prizes: $63,000,024.00

Manitoba

  • 13 winners of over $1 million and up
  • Largest win: $60,000,000
  • Total amount of million-dollar and up prizes: $130,508,503.30

Yukon

  • 3 winners of over $1 million and up
  • Largest win: $1,000,000
  • Total amount of million-dollar and up prizes: $3,000,000

Nunavut and the Northwest Territories

  • 1 winner of over $1 million and up
  • Largest win: $1,000,025
  • Total amount of million-dollar and up prizes: $1,000,025

Lottery officials say these prizes of a million-dollars and up prizes are only a small percentage of the prizes returned to players every year, though both smaller claims and payouts at retail. Those smaller claims are expected to be collated in the coming weeks as the WCLS’s finance team prepares for its fiscal year-end.

For more information about recent lottery winners in WCLC’s region, click here.