Please complete your profile to unlock commenting and other important features.

Please select your date of birth for special perks on your birthday. Your username will be your unique profile link and will be publicly used in comments.
Narcity Pro

This is a Pro feature.

Time to level up your local game with Narcity Pro.

Pro

$5/month

$40/year

  • Everything in the Free plan
  • Ad-free reading and browsing
  • Unlimited access to all content including AI summaries
  • Directly support our local and national reporting and become a Patron
  • Cancel anytime.
For Pro members only Pro
Summary

Lotto Max Winners Of A $40 Million Jackpot Are Strangers & Here's How They Found Out They Won

One winner couldn't count all the zeros when they scanned their ticket and neither could the cashier! 🤑

​Lotto Max sign in a snow-covered forest.

Lotto Max sign in a snow-covered forest.

Senior Writer

A group of Lotto Max winners who just scored a $40 million jackpot are all strangers and some have shared how they found out that they won the lottery!

In the Lotto Max draw on Friday, December 16, the jackpot was won with a group play ticket sold in Quebec which means every winner will get $4 million.

Only seven winners of the $40 million jackpot have come forward so far, according to Loto-Québec.

Those winners are Jovita Cruz Deladia San Jose, Belen Quinola Desacada, Ransfor K. Churcher, Edmond Protoduari, Than Lan Phan, Rosalinda Elupre Arunga and Joseph Agero.

All of them are from Quebec and live in either Montreal or Laval.

Cruz Deladia San Jose hit the jackpot on her first group play purchase. When she checked her ticket, the clerk said she had won a big prize but neither of them could count all the zeros!

After learning she had won, Quinola Desacada told her relatives that she needed to talk to them and they thought something bad happened but really she had won millions.

She is planning to buy a house with her winnings.

Ransfor K. Churcher's spouse is the one who told him that he actually won $4 million and $4,000 as he thought. While he stayed calm, his spouse started shouting throughout their house.

Phan thought there was a mistake when he first checked his ticket but now that he knows he really did win, he plans on buying a home.

When it comes to what some of the others want to do with their winnings, Protoduari wants to go on vacation "quite often" now that he's a millionaire.

Since three shares of the Lotto Max jackpot winning ticket haven't been claimed yet, Loto-Québec is calling on everyone in Quebec who played the December 16 draw to check their tickets.

The Lotto Max winning numbers for that draw were 6, 22, 25, 42, 43, 45 and 48.

There have been quite a few Lotto Max winners who snagged massive jackpots recently including an Alberta man who won $70 million, an 83-year-old Ontarian who won $60 million and a 30-year-old from Ontario who won $55 million!

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

A Silk and Great Value plant-based beverage class action has reached a $6.5M settlement

Here's what you need to know about how much money you could receive.

These Ontario spots made the world's best cities ranking and beat so many destinations

One city in Ontario is Canada's highest-ranking location. 👀

Canadians will be able to get Canadian Tire Money with their Tim Hortons orders soon

Here's what you need to know about this Canadian collab! 🇨🇦☕

Here's what salary you need to afford a home in major Canadian cities in 2026

From coast to coast, here's what homeownership in Canada really costs this year. 🏘️

Ontario's 'best' grocery stores were revealed and these national chains have competition

A few only-in-Ontario grocers ranked better than national retailers. 🛒

Ontario's weather forecast calls for double-digit temps and conditions could be hazardous

This thaw won't last long because cold and snow are on the way!

7 Metrolinx jobs in the GTA that pay up to $55 an hour or $124,000 a year

You can work in customer protection, track safety, repairs, and other areas.