Press release

Quebec City, November 18, 2021 — Six Capitale-Nationale residents are sharing, five ways, the whopping $50,000,000 jackpot in the November 12 Lotto Max draw. The winners, who don’t know one another, bought their portion of the Formule groupe ticket from a retailer, at the lottery kiosk at Galeries de la Capitale. They met for the first time at Loto-Québec’s newly relocated prize claim office in Quebec City when they received their $10,000,000 cheques.

The winners are:

• Réjean Bernier
• Danielle Côté and Denis Tremblay
• Gilles Pelletier
• Jean-Claude Turcotte
• Jean Westley Levesque                                     

“We couldn’t have asked for a better way to inaugurate the new premises of our Quebec City prize claim office. We just finished moving here and we’re already celebrating six new multimillionaires,” said Isabelle Jean, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Lotteries at Loto-Québec.

Thanks to Lotto Max, Quebecers have won close to $3 billion since the lottery was launched in September 2009. In all, 18 prizes of $50 million or more have been won in Québec, including 2 prizes of $70 million in the February 25, 2020, and October 9, 2020, draws. Also, it was a Capitale-Nationale family that walked away with the jackpot on February 25, 2020.

Highlights

• Réjean Bernier was at home alone when he realized he had won several million dollars. He says that he paced back and forth a lot in the hallway of his home! He also checked many times to make sure he had the right numbers for the right draw for the right lottery. Réjean would like to use some of his winnings to spoil his loved ones and to buy a house.

• Danielle Côté and Denis Tremblay couldn’t believe what had happened. They checked the results several times and found the weekend very long! The two retirees have always been buying lottery tickets. They plan to do some home renovations and treat their loved ones.

• Gilles Pelletier enjoys buying lottery tickets. When he was walking past the kiosk, he told himself, “Why not?” When he checked the draw results, he realized he had won a portion of the jackpot. He then called his children to ask them what, in their wildest dreams, they wanted for Christmas. Gilles intends to invest some his winnings to make sure he has an enjoyable retirement. He also made a spontaneous purchase of a car and trailer to do some travelling!

• Jean-Claude Turcotte found out he had won the jackpot on Saturday morning, the day after the draw. He celebrated the great news with his loved ones and plans to share his winnings with his family members.

• Jean Westley Levesque learned of his winnings when he inserted his ticket in a self-serve ticket checker. At first, he thought he had won $100,000, but then the retailer confirmed that the last two zeros were before the comma and that he had actually won $10,000,000!

COVID-19: How to claim a prize

As part of the collective effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the health and safety of its customers and employees, Loto-Québec’s prize claim offices in Montréal and Quebec City are open by appointment only. Winning ticket holders should contact the customer service team. Under the current circumstances, the safest and most efficient way to claim a prize is still by mail. For more information on prize payment terms and conditions, please visit lotoquebec.com.

About Loto-Québec

Loto-Québec’s mission is to responsibly and efficiently manage games of chance in a controlled and measured fashion in the interest of all Quebecers. Entertainment is at the heart of its activities. Between January 1 and November 14, 2021, Loto-Québec paid out 132 prizes of $1,000,000 or more to lottery winners. The Gagnant à vie and Grande Vie lotteries have provided 21 lucky winners with a lifetime annuity. Major prize winners are listed on the Winners page of the Lotteries website.