Someone is B.C. now has eight million reasons to celebrate.
On Thursday, the B.C. Lottery Corporation (BCLC) said a ticket purchased in Chilliwack won Wednesday night’s Lotto 6/49 draw — a windfall worth $8 million.
The BCLC said that ticket was the only one purchased across Canada to match all six winning numbers: 16, 25, 31, 34, 40 and 42.
The $8 million hadn’t been claimed by Thursday afternoon, with BCLC noting that lottery winners have 52 weeks from the draw date printed on their ticket to claim their prize.
“Upon winning a life-changing lottery prize, some players prefer to wait before claiming their prize to make personal and/or financial arrangements,” BCLC said in an email to Global News.
“Other players prefer to contact BCLC immediately. It’s an individual decision, and all lottery players have one year from the date of the draw printed on the ticket to claim a prize.”
The lottery corporation noted, though, that a small percentage of lottery wins go unclaimed each year in B.C., with most being for a small amount such as a few dollars.
BCLC said it’s extremely rare for major prizes of $10,000 or more to go unclaimed. However, it noted that a winning ticket worth $15 million that was purchased in Vancouver for the Aug. 13, 2021, Lotto Max draw is still unclaimed.
Also, a ticket worth $1 million from the March 18, 2020, Lotto 6/49 draw purchased on Vancouver Island was unclaimed when it expired at midnight on March 18, 2021.
BCLC says unclaimed prize money is returned back into the prize pool.
In related news, BCLC says there were three other notable B.C. winners this week.
A ticket purchased in Victoria and a ticket purchased online at PlayNow.com both matched 4/4 numbers, with each winning the top Extra prize of $500,000.
And a ticket bought in New Westminster matched five out of six numbers plus the bonus for a prize of $100,774.60.
The BCLC says the odds of winning a Lotto 6/49 jackpot are 1 in 13,983,816, while the odds of matching 4/4 on the Extra are 1 in 3,764,376. Lastly, the odds of matching five of six numbers plus the bonus are 1 in 2,330,636.
BCLC says in 2021, B.C. lottery players redeemed more than $99 million in winnings from Lotto 6/49.