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Easiest Lottery To Win in Canada

Playing lotteries is always a fun way to try to make some extra cash. And while we all know that you have to be lucky to win, some lotteries are easier than others. In this article, we will discuss what makes the Canadian lottery system unique and which lotteries offer the best odds of taking home a prize. Let's get started!

Written By:   Dan James     Facts Checked By:   Charlie Morin 

Contents on this page

Highlights:

  • 1.

    There are five regional lotteries in Canada – each of them offers its own unique games with different odds

  • 2.

    Each regional lottery is available only in certain provinces

  • 3.

    There are three national lotteries

  • 4.

    Some lotteries have really good odds for winning

Lotteries Across Canada Explained

There are five regional lotteries across Canada: Atlantic Lottery Corporation, Quebec’s Loto-Québec, Ontario’s OLG (Ontario Lottery and Gaming), Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC), and British Columbia’s BC Lottery Corporation. Take a look at the table below to see which provinces each lottery serves.

Regional Lottery Provinces
Atlantic Lottery Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador
Loto-Québec Québec
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Ontario
Western Canada Lottery Corporation Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut
British Columbia Lottery Corporation British Columbia

Each of these regional lotteries offers its own unique games with different odds of winning. They are usually smaller in value and offer prizes that are not as large as those from some of the other national lotteries. Examples of regional games are Poker Lotto, Lotto 4, Atlantic 49, Bucko, Keno, or Quebec 49.

While the national lotteries are available in all provinces, the regional games are only available in certain provinces.

Games that are offered nationally are managed by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (ILC). These include Lotto 6/49, Lotto Max, and Daily Grand. And these are some of the easiest to win! But we will talk more about it in the paragraph below.

National Lotteries With The Best Odds To Win

Generally, the lotteries with the best odds are those operated by the national organization, ILC, such as Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max. These games offer larger prizes and have better odds than many smaller regional lotteries. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the easiest national lotteries in Canada:

Lotto 6/49

lotto 6/49

The easiest national lottery to win in Canada. Lotto 6/49 is also one of the most popular lotteries in the country, and it has players selecting six numbers from 1 to 49. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 13,983,816, and the odds of winning any prize are approximately 1 in 6.6.

In order to win a prize, you only need to match two numbers. Obviously, you must get all six numbers correct to win the jackpot. If multiple players match all six numbers, the jackpot is shared equally between them. Tickets cost $3 each, and the jackpot starts at $5 million. Draws are held twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Let’s not forget about the Gold Ball draw too, which is an additional draw that takes place with every Lotto 6/49 game. You are automatically entered into the Gold Ball draw when you purchase a ticket for Lotto 6/49. You can win $1 million by correctly matching the Gold Ball number.

Odds 1 in 6.6
Ticket cost $3
Numbers needed to win 2
Jackpot $5 million
Draws held Wednesday, Saturday

Lotto Max

lotto max

Another popular lottery is Lotto Max, which offers players the chance to win prizes ranging from $10 million to a staggering $70 million! To play this game, you select seven numbers from 1 to 50, and the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 33 million.

Unlike Lotto 6/49, you need to match three numbers to win a prize. The draws take place every Tuesday and Friday night, and tickets cost $5 each. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 8.5. By the way, this is my favourite lottery!

Odds 1 in 8.5
Ticket cost $5
Numbers needed to win 3
Jackpot $10+ million
Draws held Tuesday, Friday

Other Lottery Games in Canada

In addition to the national lotteries, you can also find several smaller regional games. Each of these offers its own prizes and odds of winning; it all depends on what type of game you would like to play.

For example, Quebec has Sprinto or Astro, Ontario has Daily Keno and Pick 4, British Columbia has Scratch & Win and Extra, Alberta has Payday and Western 6/49, Saskatchewan has 50/50 and Hit or Miss, Manitoba has Pick 3 and Poker Lotto.

Some of these games, like “Lotto : D” or Sprinto,” have higher chances to win (1:2.33 and 1:2.8) than the national lotteries we have listed above, but the prizes are usually very small. On the other hand, regional games offer secondary prizes like free tickets or bonus draws.

In addition to these regional lotteries, you can also find various scratch cards and online lottery games that are offered by national and provincial organizations. So, you have a lot of options to enjoy!

These are the easiest regional lotteries to win in Canada:

Regional Game Regional Lottery Odds To Win
Lotto : D Loto-Québec 1 in 2.33
Lotto 6/49 Express Loto-Québec 1 in 2.50
Sprinto Loto-Québec 1 in 2.80
Bucko Atlantic Lottery 1 in 4.50
Pacific Holdem Poker British Columbia Lottery Corporation 1 in 5.29
Western 649 Western Canada Lottery Corporation 1 in 6.60

Conclusion

Overall, in Canada, the easiest lottery to win something is Lotto 6/49. While this lottery offers the best odds of winning, there are also several regional games that may be worth trying, depending on where you live. Quebec, especially, has some pretty competitive regional lotteries that offer really good odds, quite often higher than games such as Lotto Max or Lotto 6/49.

In other provinces, only one or two games can be found that have odds higher than those of the national lotteries. Most games, however, have odds between 1:30 and 1:40.

Want to find out if your lottery winnings are taxed? Then, check out our article on gambling tax in Canada.

Author Dan James

Online Casino Expert

Hey! I'm Dan James, and I handle everything from content writing to quality assurance at Casino Owls. I've been around the online gambling industry since 2015, and also did seven years as a poker pro before that.