A Group Of Ontario Lottery Winners Won $2 Million & They're All Nurses

Becoming an Ontario lottery winner is pretty cool, but hitting the big time with all your work friends? Now, that's a story you'll be telling over cocktails for the rest of your life.

According to OLG, a group of 16 nurses recently won $2 million after taking home an Ontario 49 jackpot.

They only started buying tickets as a group one month ago but have been working together for over 10 years.

"We started playing as a group in hopes of winning a Lotto Max jackpot and then started trying other games too," shared Sonia Correia-Batista, the group leader, while collecting her portion of the funds at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.

"One of the group members checked our ticket and saw the number two and a bunch of zeroes and said, 'I think we won something,'" the nurse added. "I said, that's not something, that's $2 million dollars!"

The group got together in the parking lot of their workplace after discovering the monumental win.

"We were all shaking and numb with disbelief. There were so many emotions about the win as we all discussed the impact this would have on our lives," Correia-Batista explains.

"COVID has been so difficult for us. We've all had to push through exhaustion and burnout, and this win has been an incredible joy for us all and a great reason to celebrate," she said.

All group members will receive a cheque for $125,000 and plan to spend some of it on a spa getaway.

Some members of the group will be using the money to purchase vehicles and do home renovations.

If you or someone you know is struggling with problem gambling, refer to these helplines across Canada. Support is available.