The winner of a lottery ticket in Canada came forward to claim the prize of 40 million Canadian dollars—equivalent to nearly 26 million euros—just a few hours before the redemption deadline, according to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).
Tony Bitondi, OLG’s director of media relations, told the BBC that the ticket was validated through a lottery terminal. The deadline to claim the prize was midnight on Wednesday, according to the BBC.
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The lottery company was searching for the holder of the ticket that won the Lotto Max jackpot. Nearly a year had passed since the buyer purchased it on October 28, 2025, from a retail store in Grey County, Ontario.
OLG did not disclose the winner’s name and stated that it had contacted the winner to confirm that they were the rightful owner of the ticket.
“Once it is confirmed that he is the rightful winner, OLG will organize an event to celebrate the win and share his story with the media and the public as part of its winner disclosure process,” the company said in a statement.
OLG had noted that Grey County, which includes the Blue Mountains and Owen Sound areas, is a popular tourist destination. This means that someone may have purchased the ticket during a visit and forgotten to check if they had won after returning home.
Bitondi had told CTV News earlier on Wednesday that the “sad part” was that the ticket had not been checked either through the OLG app or at a retail location.
The OLG announced that the winning jackpot numbers were 06, 14, 17, 19, 26, 43, and 45, with 27 as the Bonus Number. The company had urged players to check their clothing pockets, bags, backpacks, wallets, and glove compartments in an effort to locate the winning ticket.
If the prize had not been claimed before the deadline, the $40 million would have remained available to the lottery company for future drawings.
In the past, large lottery jackpots have gone unclaimed.
On June 28, 2022, someone in Scarborough, Ontario, won $70 million in a Lotto Max drawing, but no ticket holder ever came forward to claim the prize. OLG reported at the time that approximately 2,700 people called or sent emails regarding the ticket, but none of them were the winner.
About 1% of the prizes each year go unclaimed, Bitondi said, noting that these are usually much smaller amounts.
Last week, an Alberta resident won the largest lottery prize in Canadian history, worth $90 million. The winner’s identity has not yet been disclosed.
Source: Protothema.gr
