Who runs Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 in Canada

Written by NextGen, British Columbia · Last updated October 2026

Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 in Canada are run jointly by the provincial lottery corporations through the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation. Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max are national games. You buy a ticket from a retailer or online platform licensed in your province or territory, the draw is the same across the country, and prize claims follow the rules of the corporation that issued your ticket.

Who is who

The Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (ILC) coordinates the national games on behalf of the regional lottery corporations. Depending on where you live, the name on your ticket will be one of:

• BCLC — British Columbia (online play through PlayNow.com);
• WCLC (Western Canada Lottery Corporation) — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut;
• OLG — Ontario;
• Loto-Québec — Quebec;
• Atlantic Lottery — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

WCLC's public winning-number pages are a convenient and well-structured official source for both national games, which is why this site's results archive reads them. lottohelper.ca is none of these organisations. We do not print tickets, take payment, hold a prize pool or decide winners.

Draw nights

• Lotto 6/49: Wednesday and Saturday
• Lotto Max: Tuesday and Friday

In Western Canada, ticket sales for draw-night games close at 7:30 p.m. Pacific (8:30 p.m. Mountain, 9:30 p.m. Central) on the day of the draw, according to WCLC. Holiday changes are announced by the operators. This site only adds a result after the published numbers pass a date-and-count check.

What you are buying

• Lotto 6/49 ($3): one six-number selection from 1 to 49 for the Classic Draw (fixed $5 million jackpot), plus a computer-generated Gold Ball number for the Gold Ball draw. Details: Gold Ball guide.
• Lotto Max ($6, since April 2026): four selections of seven numbers from 1 to 52 — you choose one and three are Quick Picks — with jackpots from $10 million to $90 million plus MaxPlus and MaxMillions prizes. Details: Lotto Max guide.
• Add-ons: Extra (BC, Prairies, territories) and Encore (Ontario) are separate $1 games with their own draws and prize tables, and they differ by region. Details: Extra and Encore explained.

Where to check and where to claim

Check tickets with your operator's app or a retailer's self-serve ticket checker, which reads the barcode and covers every game on the ticket. Small prizes are usually paid at retail, subject to the retailer's cash on hand; larger prizes go through claim centres or offices with identification. Limits differ by province — our claims guide for BC and Western Canada has the details. Never send a photo of your ticket to anyone who contacts you after a draw.

Online play

Some provinces sell official tickets online through the operator's own platform — PlayNow.com in British Columbia and Manitoba, PlayAlberta.ca in Alberta and OLG.ca in Ontario, for example. That is different from offshore "lottery ticket" websites, which are not your provincial corporation and operate under different (or no) Canadian rules. This website will never add a buy button.