Lotto 6/49

As the name implies, six numbers are drawn from a set of 49. If a ticket matches all six numbers, the jackpot prize of at least $5,000,000 is won. A bonus number is also drawn, and if a player's ticket matches five numbers and the bonus number, the player wins the "second prize" which is usually between $100,000 and $500,000. Should more than one player win the top or second prize, it is split amongst them. Lesser prizes are also awarded if one matches at least two numbers. If the top prize is not won, the jackpot prize increases for the next draw.

As many as ten separate "lines" (sets of numbers) can be printed on one individual ticket, but the maximum number allowed varies between jurisdictions. For example, in the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) area — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut — no more than six lines are allowed.

The price of Lotto 6/49 tickets was raised in June 2004 from the original $1 per line to $2 per line in order to offer larger jackpots. The minimum jackpot amount was also raised from $2 million to $3 million.

Beginning with the September 18, 2013 draw, further changes were made to the game: ticket prices were raised to $3 per line, matching two numbers now awards a free ticket for the next draw, and the minimum jackpot was raised to $5 million. Additionally, a new "guaranteed" $1 million raffle prize is awarded during each drawing.[1] Some draws may have smaller prizes in this category alongside the main $1 million; these are marketed as a "Superdraw".

Until May 2019, Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max used a lottery machine to draw winning numbers. Since May 14, 2019, both games have switched to using a random number generator.[2]

Before the June 2004 increase in ticket prices, the largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot was $26.4 million, on September 2, 1995.[3]

The largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot, and the largest single jackpot in Canadian lottery history, was drawn on October 17, 2015 for a jackpot of $64 million. The jackpot was won by one ticket purchased in Mississauga, Ontario.[4]

The second largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot, and the second largest jackpot in Canadian lottery history, was $63.4 million on the draw for April 13, 2013.

The third largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot was drawn on October 26, 2005. The single winning ticket, worth $54.3 million, was purchased in Camrose, Alberta by a group of 17 oil and gas plant workers.[5] This was the largest Canadian lottery jackpot up to that time, and a significant increase from the previous record of $37.8 million on a Super 7 lottery draw in 2002—rapid sales created by lottery fever across the country pushed this 2005 Lotto 6/49 jackpot far beyond the originally estimated $40 million.[3]

By comparison, while the Canadian Lotto Max lottery has had a main prize pool as high as $112 million, that lottery sets a cap of $70 million for its main jackpot, with excess "main prize pool" money being applied to a series $1 million MaxMillions prizes on the same draw.

The Lotto 6/49 game is administered by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation, an alliance of the five regional lottery corporations in Canada.

Each of these corporations operate a regional add-on games that, for an extra $1 each, can be added to a 6/49 ticket. This "spiel" game (named "Tag", "Encore" or "Extra" depending on the region), adds a 6- or 7-digit number to the ticket with a top prize of $100,000 if all six digits are matched or $250,000 to $1,000,000 depending on the region for a seven-number match ($1,000,000 in Ontario and Quebec; $250,000 in the Western Canada region of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the territories).

Alongside the main Lotto 6/49 drawing, the regional corporations also run local versions of the game; Atlantic 49, Quebec 49, Ontario 49, Western 6/49, and BC 49. These draws are held on the same night as each Lotto 6/49 drawing and have similar payouts (although only Ontario 49 and Western 6/49 offer a free play on matching two numbers, as with the current format for the national game), but with fixed jackpots of $2,000,000 ($1,000,000 on Atlantic 49). Lotto 6/49 selection slips offer the ability for players to choose between Lotto 6/49, the regional game, or to play both games using the same numbers.

Overall odds of winning a prize are about 1 in 6.6, though the great majority of prizes consist of a free ticket for the next draw (a break-even scenario at best, not a win in the strictest sense).

From the 2004 price change until September 18, 2013, this table was distributed thus:

Before July 2010, if there was no winning ticket for a jackpot of $30 million or higher, the following prize structure was applied to all subsequent draws until the jackpot was won.[6] This did not apply to bonus jackpots.

The probability of winning some prize in one play is 1 in 32.3.

From the game's inception until the 2004 price change, the prize pool consisted of 45% of sales, and was distributed thus:

The overall odds of winning were 1 in 54.

• Interprovincial Lottery Corporation
• Lotto Max
• Lotto Super 7
• Millionaire Life
• Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation

• Atlantic Lottery
• British Columbia Lottery Corporation
• Loto-Québec
• Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
• Western Canada Lottery Corporation