As Canadians raise a glass to toast the close of the year, dozens of lottery players in the west will also be celebrating a memorable lottery win. In 2016, 57 prizes of $1 million or more were claimed on tickets purchased
on the prairies. Combined, those prizes total more than $218 million.

The new millionaires hail from 29 different communities across the prairies. Of course, the major cities in the region are well represented in the list. But 2016 was also a very big year in some very small places.

The town of Penhold, AB had its first-ever $1 million lottery win. And four days later, it had its second! A couple from the town of about 2,400 claimed $1 million on a PLAYER’S CHOICE MEGA PACK SCRATCH ’N WIN ticket. Four days later, another Penhold resident claimed his own $1 million prize, won on LOTTO MAX.

The two biggest wins of the year went to winners from tiny communities. In August, a woman from Neville, Saskatchewan – population 83 – claimed a LOTTO MAX prize worth $60 million. And in December, a $50
million LOTTO MAX prize went to a woman from Irma, Alberta – population 500.

Winning by province: Winning by city:

Alberta - 38 wins - $130.8 million

Edmonton – 4 wins - $29.9 million

Calgary – 13 wins - $22.0 million

Manitoba – 11 wins - $13.6 million Winnipeg – 8 wins - $10.6 million

Saskatchewan – 8 wins - $74.0 million Regina – 2 wins - $4.0 million

Saskatoon – 1 win - $1 million

Small towns, big wins: In 2016, five prizes of a million dollars or more were won by residents of communities of about 1,000 people or less.

Neville, SK: population 83 $60 million, LOTTO MAX

Irma, AB: population 450 $50 million, LOTTO MAX

Hague, SK: population 878 $5 million, LOTTO 6/49

Goodsoil, SK: population 281 $1 million, LOTTO MAX

Sandy Hook, MB: population 1,017 $1 million, LOTTO 6/49

Canada’s newest national lottery game, DAILY GRAND, launched in October. Two months in, two top prizes have been awarded on the game, both to Alberta residents – one in Edmonton and one in Calgary. Each won
$1,000 a day for life, and each winner chose to accept their prize as a one-time payment of $7 million.

Every lottery winner’s story is similar in many ways. Each follows a certain pattern – from purchasing a lottery ticket, to discovering the win, to making plans for the windfall. But within that familiar pattern, the details of each
win and each winner’s experience gives each story its own unique shape.