Check your pockets! Millions of dollars in lottery winnings go unclaimed every year

A lottery ticket worth millions may be sitting on someone's dresser, or in their jacket pocket — and they don't even know it. Millions of dollars in lottery winnings go unclaimed every year, according to lottery corporations from across Canada.

The unclaimed $64-million ticket was purchased in Gloucester County, N.B., in April and it expires soon, according to the Atlantic Lottery. If no one cashes in, it would become the largest prize to go unclaimed in Atlantic Canada.

When word got out that the winning ticket was purchased in Gloucester County, speculation swirled, says Legacy. Some said it was a group of people that worked at Walmart, while another said someone had lost the winning ticket while hunting in the woods.

"Ensuring players receive the prizes they are entitled to is the most important thing we do here at Atlantic Lottery," said Lindsay Meekins, public relations strategist for Atlantic Lottery, in an emailed statement.

Across the country, the scale of unclaimed cash is substantial. Lottery corporations report consistent baseline figures for uncollected winnings:

Tony Bitonti, OLG's director of media relations, says for the most part, it's smaller prizes in Ontario that go unclaimed, and cases such as what happened in New Brunswick are rare. He says there can be lots of reasons why people don't collect their winnings right away, especially if it's a big sum. People who win big money are required to go public in order to accept the money, so often they want to talk to their lawyer or financial adviser first.

In 2012, there was a $50-million Lotto Max prize that went unclaimed for eight months. OLG knew the winning ticket was sold at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Cambridge, Ont., and they knew what time the ticket was sold, so they were able to look at the security video of the person buying the winning ticket. "On that video, we saw that the person actually bought their ticket with a credit card and used the loyalty card for Shoppers Drug Mart," said Bitonti.

Bitonti says they aren't always able to find that winner. There was a $70-million jackpot that went unclaimed in Ontario last year. In B.C., the largest ticket to go unclaimed was a $15-million Lotto Max prize, which expired on Aug. 13, 2022. To avoid such a fate, Bitonti has some tips for lottery players. He suggests always checking your tickets, signing them, and not putting a ticket in your pocket, especially a seasonal jacket.

Lorraine Beaudin of Petit-Shippagan, N.B., bought a ticket for the record-breaking Lotto Max draw earlier last month but never imagined she would actually win a major prize. According to Atlantic Lottery, she was in disbelief when she checked her ticket and realized she had won a $1-million Maxmillions prize.

I asked what was happening and she said that I won some money. I asked how much and she said, ‘A big amount,’ Beaudin said, as reported by Global News.

“My daughter was waiting in the car and when I came out, I said, ‘That took some time, eh?’ and she agreed,” Beaudin said. “So, I said, ‘Well, I just won a million dollars,’ and she started crying and said, ‘This is real, mom?’”

Beaudin told Atlantic Lottery she plans to use her winnings to buy or build a new home, spoil herself and spoil her children.

As the clock ticks down on pending deadlines across various jurisdictions, players are urged to thoroughly inspect old jackets, drawers, and glove compartments before valuable tickets lose their validity forever.