$40M lottery ticket sold in Oshawa but Mississauga, Brampton top Ontario for most big wins

Somewhere out there is a $40 million winning Lotto Max ticket sold in Oshawa in the Feb. 21 draw, bringing back memories of the pre-pandemic days when big winners from Durham Region seemed more … commonplace.

There was Oshawa’s Don and Linda Ingram, employees at the Wally’s World restaurant in the north end, who $50 million in 2011, breaking the local record set by Whitby’s Jason Rinaldi three years earlier, who won $35.3 million.

The year after the Ingrams’ big jackpot, a group of seven workers at an Eggsmart in Whitby – with five of the seven living in Durham – shared a $21.5 million prize.

Wally’s World, Oshawa

But while Ontario lottery players certainly have the gift of luck (and the biggest population) – the province is home to 64 winners of $1 million or more since 2023 – no community in Durham even cracked the top ten for luckiest city for lottery wins.

That would be Montreal, with an astounding 32 wins of $25,000 or more – far in excess of Mississauga, Edmonton and Vancouver, with 13 wins each. For million dollar or more wins since 2023, Montreal and Edmonton were tied at nine each, with Vancouver and Victoria at five wins each and Brampton next at four.

Quebec also topped Ontario for most $1 million winners since 2023 with 74.

The biggest lottery wins in history in Canada have all been in the past five years as the prize lots have been bumped up, with three $70 million winners: Dale McEwan (Regina) and Marcel Lussier (Montérégie, Quebec) in 2022 and Adlin Lewis (Brampton) in 2020.

Zhe Wang of Mississauga won $64 million on 6/49 in 2015

Other big winners include Calgary’s Tran Trinh, who won $65 million in 2019 and Zhe Wang of Mississauga, who won $64 million in 2015.

Durham may get its moment in the spotlight again when the holder of the $40 million ticket sold in Oshawa comes forward, with the second prize winner of $176,000-plus in that draw sold in neighbouring Bowmanville.

Since its launch in 2009, Lotto Max players in Ontario have won more than $9 billion, including 114 jackpot wins and 937 Maxmillions prizes.

Some of the data in this story is from research commissioned by canadasportsbetting.ca