'Milestone' OLG lottery jackpot to be drawn this week
A lucky lottery player in Canada will be the winner of a record-breaking multi-million dollar prize on Wednesday.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) said its Lotto 6/49 prize will reach $68 million for the first time in history.
OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti said this will be a “momentous milestone” for the crown agency.
“Since LOTTO 6/49 was enhanced in September 2022, the jackpot has never reached the top prize of $68 million. Only one ball remains for this Wednesday's draw – the Gold Ball – meaning the jackpot is guaranteed to be won and will create a new multi-millionaire!” Bitonti said in a release on Sunday.
“It has taken 15 weeks and 30 draws for the LOTTO 6/49 Gold Ball jackpot to reach its top limit of $68 million.”
The closest prize that has ever been won to this one was the $64 million ticket sold in New Brunswick in April, and years earlier, in 2015, a $64 million LOTTO 6/49 jackpot won by a Mississauga resident.
A clerk hands a customer their Lotto Max ticket at a gas station north of Newcastle, Ontario on Thursday Oct. 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug IvesMost recently, a $42 million ticket sold in Niagara Falls was won on June 14.
The anticipated draw comes just months after a $70 million Lotto Max ticket expired – the biggest unclaimed ticket in Canadian history.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Ibrahim Ali found guilty of killing 13-year-old girl in B.C.
A jury has found Ibrahim Ali guilty of killing a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.
Minnesota grocery store clerk dies after customer impales him with a golf club, police say
A Minneapolis store clerk died after a customer beat him and impaled him with a golf club, police said. The 66-year-old clerk was attacked Friday at the Oak Grove Grocery, a small neighborhood store in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis. A 44-year-old suspect is jailed on suspicion of murder.
'Shadows of children': For the youngest hostages, life moves forward in whispers
After seven weeks held hostage in the tunnels of Gaza, they are finally free to laugh and chat and play. But some of the children who have come back from captivity are still reluctant to raise their voices above a whisper.
A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv
City workers in Kyiv on Saturday dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
Protests at UN climate talks, from ceasefire calls to detainees, see 'shocking level of censorship'
Activists designated Saturday a day of protest at the COP28 summit in Dubai. But the rules of the game in the tightly controlled United Arab Emirates meant sharp restrictions on what demonstrators could say, where they could walk and what their signs could portray.
Bill 15: Quebec health reform passes after gov't invokes closure
After sitting through the night, early Saturday morning, members of the Quebec legislature finally passed Bill 15 to reform the health-care network, voting 75 to 27.
Marathon Conservative carbon tax filibuster ends after nearly 30 consecutive hours of House votes
The Conservative-prompted filibuster in the House of Commons ended Friday night, after MPs spent nearly 30 hours voting non-stop on the government's spending plans.
New U.S. aid for Ukraine by year-end seems increasingly of out reach as GOP ties it to border security
A deal to provide further U.S. assistance to Ukraine by year-end appears to be increasingly out of reach for President Joe Biden. The impasse is deepening in Congress despite dire warnings from the White House about the consequences of inaction as Republicans insist on pairing the aid with changes to America's immigration and border policies.
Israel presses ahead with bombarding Gaza, including areas it told Palestinians to evacuate to
Israeli warplanes struck parts of the Gaza Strip in relentless bombardment Saturday, hitting some of the dwindling bits of land it had told Palestinians to evacuate to in the territory's south. The strikes came a day after the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, despite its wide support.