How the $90M Lotto Max jackpot stacks up against other big Canadian lottery prizes
Friday's jackpot will be the largest prize in Canadian lottery history
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jackpot → stack → history
Friday's $90 million Lotto Max draw will be the largest lottery jackpot prize ever available to win in Canada — may the odds be ever in your favour.
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odds → win → favour
Draws take place every Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
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Draws → take → ET
Tuesday's previously record-setting $85-million jackpot rolled over after no one claimed it, which allowed the prize pool to keep growing.
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pool → set → it
Lotto Max, a national lottery, announced in April that it was increasing its jackpot cap from $80 million to $90 million, but this is the first time it's actually happened.
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it → announce → million
So, what are the odds of winning?
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odds → win → ?
And how does this compare to past jackpots?
Let's break it down.
Previously, Canada's biggest lottery prize was $80.4 million, won by two friends in London, Ont., last December.
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prize → compare → London
At the time, the men said they were still overcome with shock that they'd won.
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they → say → shock
The odds of winning the main jackpot are one in 33 million per $6 play, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), the Crown agency that manages and conducts gaming and lottery operations across the province.
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that → win → province
Let's put that into perspective.
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's → let → perspective
You're almost exactly as likely to flip a coin 25 times in a row and have it land on "heads" each time — an extremely rare probability of one in 33.5 million, according to the scientifically developed coin flip probability calculator.
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it → flip → calculator
Meanwhile, the odds of being struck by lightning in Canada are less than one in a million, according to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.
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odds → strike → Health
And we're sorry to say that you're actually far more likely to be killed by an asteroid's impact on Earth on your way to buy the ticket than you are of winning the $90-million jackpot.
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you → say → jackpot
How does the $90M compare?
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M → compare → ?
However, despite these odds, people do win the lottery.
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people → win → lottery
And the prizes keep growing.
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prizes → grow → ?
Previously, Canada's biggest lottery prize was $80.4 million, won by a pair of long-time friends in London, Ont., last December.
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prize → win → London
They won the $80-million Lotto Max jackpot and the $403,285.40 second prize in the combination play option.
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They → win → option
At the time, the men, identified only as Greg S. and Krys P., said they weren't sure how they would spend the money.
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they → identify → money
Before that, the top prize was claimed by a B.C. man who won the $80 million Lotto Max jackpot in May 2025.
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who → claim → May
Justin Simporios of Surrey quit his job hours before the news conference where he claimed his cheque.
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he → quit → cheque
Pair of longtime friends in London, Ont., win over $80.4M in largest-ever lottery payout in Canada
Who won the lottery?
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Who → win → lottery
Why you may never know the full name of some jackpot winners going forward
Lotto Max's first $80-million draw in September 2024, was split between two winning tickets sold in Ontario and Quebec.
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draw → know → Ontario
(It was actually the second time the $65-million winner, a family in Montreal, had won the lottery).
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winner → win → lottery
The first Lotto Max draw for $60 million was in 2015, after the lottery changed the rules previously capping the jackpot at $50 million.
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lottery → change → million
Two years before that, however, a record-breaking $63.4 million Lotto 649 prize was split between four tickets.
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prize → break → tickets
Some may also recall 2005, when 17 oil and gas workers from Alberta split Canada's biggest jackpot to date, a whopping $54 million.
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workers → recall → date
Before that, the previous lottery record was $37.8 million, split between four tickets in a Super 7 draw in 2002.
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record → split → 2002
Canada's first national lottery dates back to 1974, when nine women from Quebec City split the $1-million prize in a lottery held to raise money for the Montreal Olympics.
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women → date → Olympics
The Aporia
