Drawpie Explainers

Four Calgary Friends Share Canada's Record $90 Million Lotto Max Jackpot

By Kimi · November 7, 2026 · 6 min read
Four Calgary Friends Share Canada's Record $90 Million Lotto Max Jackpot
Photo by Mahesh Gupta on Unsplash
Key takeaways
  • Four long-time friends from Calgary won the whole $90 million Lotto Max jackpot in the Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 draw. They are splitting it equally, so each gets $22.5 million.
  • It is the largest lottery prize ever awarded in Canada. The previous largest prize was about $80.4 million, won by two friends from London, Ont., in the Dec. 30, 2025 Lotto Max draw.
  • Play Alberta says it is also the biggest prize ever won in Alberta, ahead of a $70 million win from November 2022.
  • The ticket was bought online through Play Alberta, AGLC’s online platform. There is no store or neighbourhood to report.
  • AGLC introduced the winners on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. ⚠️ No exact claim date has been published. AGLC said on Oct. 21 that it understood the winner to be a small group in the Calgary area.
  • The winning numbers were 8, 15, 19, 23, 26, 28 and 34, with bonus number 38 (WCLC).

Four long-time friends from Calgary won the full $90 million jackpot in the Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 Lotto Max draw. It is the largest lottery prize ever awarded in Canada, and they are splitting it equally at $22.5 million each. Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC) introduced the group on Friday, Nov. 6. The ticket was bought online through Play Alberta, so there is no winning store to report. This page is current as of Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, 13:05 UTC (6:05 a.m. MST).

Who won the $90 million Lotto Max jackpot?

The winners are a group of four long-time friends from Calgary. They share one winning selection from the Oct. 20 draw. AGLC’s Nov. 6 release calls them “the largest lottery winners in Canadian history”. They met about five years ago through their families, CBC reports. This page does not name them: they are private individuals, even though the release and the press coverage carry their names.

Global News reports that the $90 million is divided equally four ways, which works out to $22.5 million per person. The Western Canada Lottery Corporation’s official prize breakdown lists exactly one 7-of-7 winner for that draw, located in Alberta, and a jackpot of $90,000,000.00.

Is $90 million really Canada’s biggest lottery prize?

Yes, it is the largest lottery prize ever awarded in Canada. Both AGLC and CTV News describe it that way. CTV notes that it came about six months after Lotto Max raised its maximum jackpot to $90 million from $80 million. A Lotto Spot spokesperson told CTV that no Canadian lottery had ever offered a $90 million jackpot before.

The previous largest prize was about $80.4 million in total, shared by two friends from London, Ont., according to CTV. That win came from the Dec. 30, 2025 Lotto Max draw, whose jackpot WCLC lists at $80 million with one winner in Ontario.

Play Alberta said the new win is also the largest prize ever won in Alberta, beating a $70 million win from November 2022. AGLC’s release lists some of the province’s earlier major wins; it is not presented as a complete ranking. In the table below, the first column is the game, the second is the prize, and the third is when it was won.

GamePrizeWon
Lotto Max$90 millionOct. 2026
Lotto Max$70 millionNov. 2022
6/49 Gold Ball$66 millionJune 2024
Lotto Max$60 millionOct. 2018
Lotto Max$60 millionSept. 2017
6/49 Gold Ball$50 millionDec. 2023

Where was the winning ticket bought?

The ticket was bought online through Play Alberta, AGLC’s online gaming platform, not at a store. AGLC CEO Kandice Machado said at a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 21 that the winning numbers were purchased through Play Alberta, as CTV News reported. Global News confirmed the Play Alberta purchase on Nov. 6.

Because the purchase was made online, there is no retailer, street or neighbourhood attached to the win. According to CTV, it was the first eight-figure lottery jackpot ever won through Play Alberta.

The friends organized the purchase in a group chat. CBC, Global News and CP24 all report that the chat was called “Manifesting Millions”. Global reports that the group decided at the start of October to buy a ticket, as the jackpot kept climbing. CBC reports that this was the first ticket they had ever bought as a group.

What were the winning numbers on Oct. 20?

The winning numbers were 8, 15, 19, 23, 26, 28 and 34, and the bonus number was 38. These come from WCLC’s official prize breakdown for the Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 draw. The jackpot had gone unclaimed for several draws before this one, which pushed it to the record $90 million, according to CTV News.

The jackpot has since been won again: WCLC’s breakdown shows the $50 million prize in the Friday, Nov. 6, 2026 draw went to a ticket in the Atlantic Provinces.

How did the winners find out?

One of the friends saw an email about the win at about 3 a.m. after the draw and called the rest of the group. Play Alberta notifies its winners electronically. Global News reports that, at that hour, the winner who read the email at first thought the prize was $9,000 or $900, before checking again and waking the others.

The others did not believe it at first. In the AGLC release, one of the winners said: “I couldn’t believe we won on the first time.” Speaking at the Nov. 6 news conference, as Global News reported, another said it took about a week for the news to sink in.

When were the winners announced, and when did they claim the prize?

AGLC introduced the winners at a news conference on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, but no exact claim date has been published. Here is what is on the record:

  • Tuesday, Oct. 20: the draw, with one 7-of-7 winning selection in Alberta (WCLC).
  • Wednesday, Oct. 21: AGLC’s CEO said that, as she understood it, the winner was a small group in the Calgary area. She said validations, an interview and some preparation came before any announcement (CTV News).
  • Friday, Nov. 6: AGLC published its release and presented the four winners. CBC reports that Steve Lautischer of AGLC introduced them.

From that timeline, the group was known to AGLC by Oct. 21 and the prize was presented on Nov. 6. Nothing published so far gives the exact date the claim was filed or the money was paid.

What do the winners plan to do with the money?

The group says the money will go to paying off mortgages, providing for family and giving to charity. In the AGLC release, the group said collectively that the win would help them enjoy life a bit more. CBC reports that their plans include donating to the Alberta Children’s Hospital. Global News reports that they intend to give part of the winnings back to the community.

Do lottery winners in Canada pay tax on the prize?

No, lottery winnings are generally not taxed as income in Canada. The Canada Revenue Agency lists “lottery winnings of any amount” among the amounts that do not have to be reported as income. The exception is a prize that counts as income from employment, a business or property, or a prize for achievement. The CRA adds that any income earned on the winnings, such as interest from investing them, is taxable and must be reported.

Sources

How we verified this

The prize amount, the draw date and the winning numbers come from the official prize breakdown. The Western Canada Lottery Corporation’s breakdown for the Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026 Lotto Max draw lists a $90,000,000.00 jackpot, numbers 8, 15, 19, 23, 26, 28 and 34 with bonus 38, and one 7-of-7 winner, located in Alberta.

The previous largest prize rests on CTV News and WCLC. CTV reports that two friends from London, Ont., shared an $80.4 million prize, the largest claimed in Canada before this one; CTV does not give that draw’s date. WCLC’s breakdown for that draw lists an $80,000,000.00 jackpot with one winner in Ontario, and seven Ontario winners of $57,612.20 in the 6-of-7-plus-bonus category; we did not find a primary page tying that smaller prize to the same ticket, so the page only gives CTV’s total. We do not call the $80 million jackpot itself the record. We did not use CTV’s statement that those winners were announced in December.

The winners and the record status come from AGLC. Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis published its release on November 6, 2026. It describes a long-term group of four friends from Calgary as the largest lottery winners in Canadian history, and it gives the quote about winning on the first try. CTV News separately reported the prize as the largest ever awarded in a lottery in Canada, and CBC called it the country’s largest-ever lottery jackpot. The equal split of $22.5 million each is from Global News and CP24. The group chat name, “Manifesting Millions”, comes from CBC, Global News and CP24. CBC alone reports that this was the friends’ first ticket bought as a group, that they met about five years ago, and that they plan to donate to the Alberta Children’s Hospital; Global says they have known each other for more than five years.

The online purchase does not come from the AGLC release. The release never says where the ticket was bought. The Play Alberta purchase rests on what AGLC CEO Kandice Machado said at a virtual press conference and on a Play Alberta statement, both reported by CTV News on Oct. 21, 2026. Global News confirmed the Play Alberta purchase on Nov. 6. The claims that this is the first eight-figure jackpot won through Play Alberta and the biggest prize ever won in Alberta, ahead of a $70 million win from November 2022, come from Play Alberta’s statement as quoted by CTV. The table of earlier Alberta wins reproduces the list of “major winners” in the AGLC release; AGLC does not present it as a complete ranking.

Some things are not confirmed. No exact claim date has been published. AGLC knew of a Calgary-area group by Oct. 21 and introduced the winners on Nov. 6. No source reports any prize beyond the $90 million jackpot. The line about several draws without a jackpot winner is attributed to CTV News, which does not say how many draws the jackpot stayed at $90 million.

Why the winners are not named. The four winners are private individuals, so this page does not name them or repeat personal details, even though the release and other coverage do. Quotes are given without names and come only from the AGLC release and Global News.

The tax point comes from the Canada Revenue Agency. The CRA page “Amounts that are not reported or taxed” (page dated Sept. 17, 2026, read Nov. 7, 2026) lists lottery winnings of any amount among amounts that are not reported, unless the prize counts as income from employment, a business or property, or a prize for achievement, and says interest earned by investing lottery winnings must be reported.

When this was checked. All pages were read on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, between about 12:40 and 13:05 UTC, which is 5:40 to 6:05 a.m. MST in Calgary. The line about the Nov. 6 Atlantic win comes from WCLC’s breakdown for that draw, read Nov. 7, 2026, about 12:55 UTC.