How Long You Have to Claim a Lottery Prize in Canada

The one-year rule and its exceptions

Canada has five lottery operators: OLG in Ontario, Loto-Québec, BCLC in British Columbia, the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) for the Prairies and the territories, and Atlantic Lottery (ALC) in the four Atlantic provinces. National games such as LOTTO MAX, LOTTO 6/49 and DAILY GRAND are sold by all of them, and each applies the same basic deadline: one year from the draw.

The exceptions are where people get caught. Scratch tickets usually carry their own expiry date. Sports wagers can run on a different clock. And a ticket left in a drawer for eleven months still needs time to be processed, especially if you claim by mail.

Deadlines by region

Manitoba players buying through PlayNow see the same window expressed as 52 weeks.

Big prizes really do go unclaimed

It is not only small wins that lapse. OLG publicised a C$40 million LOTTO MAX prize from the October 28, 2025 draw that was still unclaimed months later. Under the one-year rule, a ticket like that stops being payable on the first anniversary of its draw, however large the prize. Loto-Québec has said it issues a public release when a prize of C$1 million or more has gone unclaimed for about a month, which tells you how often large tickets sit forgotten.

Atlantic Lottery says it awards about 90,000 prizes a day. Most are small free-play or low-dollar wins, which are exactly the ones people forget to check.

Where unclaimed money goes

The answer depends on whether the game is national or regional.

• National games. OLG says unclaimed prizes from national games go back into prize funds, for example for bonus draws. WCLC likewise says unclaimed national-game prizes are returned to players through guaranteed jackpots and bonus draws, and Loto-Québec says it redistributes unclaimed prizes as bonus prizes and special draws.
• Regional games. For Ontario-only games, OLG says unclaimed prizes go to the province, which funds services such as health care and education. WCLC says unclaimed prizes from its regional games go to its member provinces and territories as revenue. Atlantic Lottery places expired prizes from its own games into a special prize fund.

In none of these cases does a late winner get the money back. Once the deadline passes, the claim is void.

How to claim before the clock runs out

Small prizes

In Ontario, retailers can pay prizes under C$1,000. In WCLC provinces, prizes up to C$100 are validated at the terminal and many retailers pay up to C$1,000, but a retailer may decline anything over C$100, according to WCLC's claim page.

Larger prizes

• Ontario: OLG accepts online claims of any amount, typically processed in about five business days; mail claims take six to eight weeks; the Prize Centre in Toronto is by appointment at 1-800-387-0098.
• Quebec: according to Loto-Québec's online claim FAQ, prizes from C$600.01 to C$50,000 can be claimed online by a sole owner, or in person at a payment centre or by mail. Claims are processed within 48 hours; payment by Interac takes up to 48 business hours, direct deposit up to five business days and a cheque up to 20 business days.
• WCLC provinces: prizes of C$1,001 or more are claimed at a prize office by appointment (St. Albert, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg or Yellowknife) or by mail. WCLC states it is not responsible for tickets lost in the mail. Winners of C$10,000 or more must do an interview and have a photo taken.

Leave margin for mail

Rules generally say the claim must be received by the deadline. If you are inside the last two months, claim online or in person rather than by post. For a ticket you have just found, the safe calculation is: deadline = draw date + 1 year, then subtract the processing time of the method you plan to use.

Worked examples: finding your own deadline

These examples apply the published rules to sample dates. The formula for draw games is the same everywhere: last claim day = the same calendar date one year after the draw.

• LOTTO 6/49 ticket bought in Halifax for a draw on March 14, 2026. Atlantic Lottery's one-year rule makes March 14, 2027 the last day. Because the game is national, an expired prize would go back to players through prize funds rather than to the winner.
• LOTTO MAX ticket bought in Montréal for a draw on May 5, 2026. The claim must be made by May 5, 2027, and Loto-Québec's rule adds a time limit on that day: before 4:30 p.m.
• SPORT SELECT ticket bought in Regina covering games played over several weeks. WCLC counts the year from the last selected game on the ticket, not from the purchase date, so a ticket whose final game is played on November 30, 2026 can be claimed until November 30, 2027.
• Sports wager bought in Moncton on January 10, 2026. Atlantic Lottery sets 744 days from purchase for sports wagers, so the formula is purchase date + 744 days, which lands on January 24, 2028.
• Scratch ticket found in an old coat in Toronto. There is no draw date to count from; OLG says to look at the expiry date printed on the back of the ticket.

If your date lands on a weekend or holiday, do not assume an extension. Claim online, through the operator's app or at a retailer before the date rather than counting on an office being open.

Protect the ticket while you wait

1. Sign the back. Manitoba's PlayNow guidance tells players to sign their ticket, because a lost unsigned ticket generally cannot be claimed by anyone who can't prove ownership.
2. Photograph both sides and note where and when you bought it. OLG says it may be able to verify ownership of a lost ticket through data analysis, but that is a last resort, not a promise.
3. Group wins need paperwork. OLG requires a group claim list signed in ink by each member. Settle who is in the pool before you claim, not after.
4. Keep the original after claiming online. Loto-Québec asks you to keep it for 12 months after payment.

Online and app tickets

Buying online removes most deadline risk. OLG says winnings under C$1,000 on OLG.ca are deposited automatically to your account, and the provincial platforms flag larger wins in your account. If you buy at retail, scanning tickets with the operator's app or a terminal checker soon after each draw is the simplest habit. Our guide to playing the lottery online covers which provincial sites sell which games and how their accounts flag wins.

After you claim

Lottery prizes are not taxable in Canada, but the interest a large win earns afterwards is. The sibling article on how a lottery win affects government benefits covers what to report and when, and our page on gambling winnings and tax explains the CRA position. If checking old tickets has become a habit you would rather break, our responsible gambling page lists provincial help lines.