Canada's provinces ranked by luck. But prizes likely balance out over time, one lottery company says

A new study ranking the provinces by the luck of its lottery residents has been brought into question by one of Canada’s biggest lottery corporations.

The study, released last month by online casino guide Datslots, analyzed lottery winnings of $10,000 or more reported in Canada’s three national draws, Lotto Max, Lotto 6/49, and Daily Grand, over the last 12 months.

It ranked Nunavut as the luckiest province, with the most winnings per 1,000 residents, followed by Alberta and Manitoba. Ontario was ranked fifth.

The ranking has since drawn backlash from the Western Canada Lottery, the corporation that runs Daily Grand.

“We strongly disagree with findings. Lottery draws are completely random, and there is no way to determine or influence in what region or province a major prize will be won,” spokesperson Kevin van Egdom told CTV News Toronto Friday.

“Over time, wins tend to balance out, and the proportion of major prizes in a region tends to resemble the proportion of the population in that region, and more especially, the proportion of tickets sold in that region.”

Despite Ontarians winning more than $646 million in draws in the last 12 months, the province didn’t crack the top three on the list.

Nunavut topped the study as the luckiest province in Canada, winning a total of $172,473 per 1,000 residents.

“Residents in Nunavut have the highest chance of winning a large sum of money in the lottery than any other place in Canada,” a release issued by the company reads. The region claimed the top spot with help, in part, from one local who claimed a $7 million jackpot in October 2022.

In second place came Alberta, where residents won a total of $67,566 per 1,000 people in the 12-month period.

Despite winning the most money, Ontario placed just fifth, with winnings of $42,357 per 1,000 people.

The full Datslots ranking is as follows:

Canada's luckiest provinces, ranked by Datslots (October 2023)

Residents in the Northwest Territories are the unluckiest in the country, according to the list. For every 1,000 residents in the territory, an average of $11,438 was won.

In total, the three draws have awarded more than $1.6 billion to Canadians in the last year, the study found.