Québec Online Lottery

Québec had its first lottery draw in 1970. In the 50 years since, lottery games and other forms of gambling have raised billions of dollars for various causes in the province. Today you can join huge national draws, play in Québec’s provincial jackpot draws and enjoy instant, casino and poker games online. The biggest jackpot in the province so far has been $70 million on Lotto Max, won by a player from Montreal.

This page covers all the draws and games available via Loto-Québec. You will find information on buying tickets, claiming prizes and how the different draws work, along with information on other games, responsible gambling and benefits for the community.

How the Québec online lottery works

Online gambling in Québec and the lottery are overseen by Loto-Québec. This crown corporation runs the Loto-Québec.com website, as well as the Espacejeux online gambling portal.

You can purchase tickets for the draws in a store or online. If you buy lottery tickets online, subscriptions are available. You can also set personalised rules for when to buy tickets. For example, you might want to enter draws only when the jackpot hits a specified number.

You can use the website to check your tickets, or you can download the Québec lottery app. You can use either to check how many prizes are available for different ranges of scratch cards.

How to claim lottery winnings in Québec

Receiving your winnings depends on how much you won. For wins of $600 and less, you should head to a retail outlet. You can claim wins below $25,000 via mail. If you are lucky enough to win more than $25,000, call 1-866-611-5686 (Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) and speak with an agent. There are four offices where you can make claims in person once you have arranged an appointment.

What games can I play on the Lotto-Québec website?

You will find a packed schedule of draws available in Québec. In addition, you’ll have a choice of games 24/7. Here are the categories:

National lottery draws: These are the Lotto Max, Lotto 6/49 and Daily Grand.
Provincial draws: Big jackpot draws and daily “express” options include Québec 49 and Québec Max. There are also daily draws and instant lottery terminal games.
Scratch cards: Big prizes and a range of prices with themed scratch tickets. In addition to the retail tickets, you will find online scratch cards and instant games.
Casino games: Slots, virtual table games, live dealer casino games, video poker and novelty games are available in Québec.
Online poker: You can play poker against others from QC in cash game or tournament format.
Sports betting: Pooled bets and parlays are available via the Sports Select system.

National lottery draws available in Québec

There are three national lottery draws in Canada that regularly award life-changing jackpots. Here are the details:

Lotto 6/49

For $3, you will receive one regular selection of six numbers between 1 and 49. Tickets also come with a unique 10-digit number for entry into a separate $1 million prize draw. The minimum jackpot size for Lotto 6/49 is $5 million. This will grow if the jackpot prize is not claimed. To win the jackpot, you need to match all six numbers.

Draws take place each Wednesday and Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET. The odds of winning a prize on a ticket are 1 in 6.6. The odds of landing the jackpot are 1 in 13,983,816.

The first draw for the Lotto 6/49 took place in June 1982. The largest win in Québec in recent years is the $28,936,328 won in December 2020 in Laval, QC.

Lotto Max

This game has the biggest starting prize. The minimum jackpot is $10 million. It will grow up to $70 million if not won. For $5, you get three entries. You can make one pick of seven numbers from 1 to 50 yourself — or let the lottery terminal make all three selections. Additional million-dollar prizes are awarded whenever the prize pool tops $50 million.

Draws take place each Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Lotto Max saw the largest ever lottery win in Québec. A 22-year-old grocery store employee from Montreal landed a $70 million win.

Grand Vie (Daily Grand)

Grand Vie tickets cost $3. Your selection will consist of five numbers between 1 and 49, plus a single Grand Number between 1 and 7. If you match all six of your numbers, you win $1,000 a day for life. If you match the five numbers without the Grand Number, you win $25,000 a year for life.

Draws take place each Monday and Thursday. The odds of winning a prize in this draw are 1 in 6.8, and the odds of winning the grand prize are 1 in 13,348,188.

Québec provincial lottery draws

There are two major Québec lottery draws, which run alongside the national draws.

Québec 49: This draw is modeled on Lotto 6/49. For $1 you get one entry of six numbers between 1 and 49. If you’re lucky enough to match all six numbers, you win the jackpot prize of $2 million or more. Draws take place on Wednesday and Saturday.
Québec Max: This draw is similar to Lotto Max. For $2 you get three selections of seven numbers between 1 and 50. This jackpot is also seeded at $2 million. Draws take place on Tuesday and Friday.

In addition to the major draws, you can enter daily draws and play in instant games at lottery terminals. Here are the options:

Lotto 6/49 Express: This is an instant online draw game. Tickets cost $1. If you match all six numbers, you win an instant grand prize of $100,000. Your chances of winning any prize are 1 in 2.5.
Quotidienne: These offer a range of different “pick” games, where you can choose to pick two, three or four numbers, with varied prizes based on your choice of stake and how many of those numbers you match. The maximum win is 4,500x your stake, with a top prize of $45,000 if you play for the maximum $10.
Extra: You can add an “Extra” selection to many of your other lottery entries. This is a prize draw that costs $1 and offers a grand prize of $1 million and a second prize of $25,000.
Banco: Banco is a keno game where 20 numbers are drawn between 1 and 70. You get to choose how many numbers you play, and the more numbers you match, the more you win. The maximum prize is $1 million.
Astro: An interesting take on a lottery draw. Instead of numbers, the four symbols are a day, a month, a year and a star sign. Match one for a free ticket and match all four for $25,000. This draw takes place daily and costs $1 per ticket.
Lotto Poker: This game costs $2 for one selection, and there are two ways to win. Each ticket shows five playing cards. Instant wins are available for jacks or better poker hands. Then in the evening, five cards are revealed that you match lottery-style. The grand prize in this draw is $100,000.
Roue de Fortune Éclair: This lottery game is based on the classic Wheel of Fortune game. You get an instant spin of the wheel on the lottery terminal. This is followed by a draw round. You can play for $3 — or bet $5 for bigger prizes and a chance of TV participation.

Québec lottery draw schedules

Here are the draws you can enjoy throughout the week in Québec:

Monday: Daily Grand
Tuesday: Lotto Max, Québec Max
Wednesday: Lotto 6/49, Québec 49
Thursday: Daily Grand
Friday: Lotto Max, Québec Max
Saturday: Lotto 6/49, Québec 49

Draws take place at 10:30 p.m. ET each day.

Scratch cards in Québec

There are around 50 themed scratch cards in circulation at any one time in Québec. You can purchase these games from retailers. The prices vary between $1 and $30.

If you are looking for that large jackpot win, it can be a good idea to do a little research before you buy a ticket. On the Loto-Québec website, you can find a full rundown of all the unclaimed prizes. This will show you which cards have most potential. Here are some examples of scratch cards in Québec, at different ends of the cost spectrum:

Le 7 Chanceux: This scratch card costs just $1. Your aim is to scratch off as many 7s as possible. A single 7 will win you $7, two sevens pay $77 and three sevens are worth $777. If you reveal the maximum four sevens, you take home the maximum prize of $7,777.
Triple Millions: The Triple Millions scratch card costs $30. These cards have an incredible overall payout of $250 million — including 10 individual jackpot prizes of $3 million. The card features four games. In games one, two and three, your aim is to match three identical prizes. In the final main game, you scratch off seven “lucky” numbers and if any of your own 30 numbers match a lucky number, you win the prize amount below the number.

As well as purchasing these tickets in stores, you can also play scratch cards online. These work in the same way as the retail scratch cards. Instead of scratching with a coin, you do so virtually. Some online scratch cards are themed; others have elements of bingo or keno play. You will find them under “Instants” via the Loto-Québec website.

Alongside the scratch card games from Loto-Québec are a range of instant novelty games. Options such as Pyramid Bingo, Football Frenzy and Tiki-Tac-Toe offer something a little different for players, while giving you scratch-card-style instant wins.

Online casino games at Loto-Québec

If you enjoy casino gambling, you can try a full range of games through the Espacejeux casino portal. These legal casino games include slots, table games and video poker variants.

The majority of the site is filled with slots games, with a mix of games created by live slot makers and online slot studios. Many have jackpot prizes, with some hitting the six-figure range. Many of the slots you will find at the Casino de Montréal are here in online form. This includes Cleopatra, Quick Hit slots and the new James Bond Casino Royale.

Table games are available in software format and as live dealer games. The live dealer ones allow you to remotely bet on games like blackjack and roulette that are being streamed in real time from a casino. You can play popular video poker variants, bet on virtual sports and try bingo/keno at the Québec lottery casino site.

In addition to the standard casino games, you can also play a range of poker games. Texas Hold’em is the most popular game at the Québec Lottery site. Other options are Omaha and five card stud.

Loto-Québec sports betting

If you like putting your sports knowledge to the test, you can check out a full range of sports picks through the Mise-o-jeu partner site. Here you will find odds across the large professional North American leagues, college sports and the best in global action.

Pick from point spreads, totals, moneylines, prop bets and futures. You can also wager on sports games live and use the cash-out option if you want to lock in a profit or cut your losses.

Responsible gambling and Loto-Québec

Information on responsible gambling is provided via a sidebar on the Loto-Québec website and Espacejeux portal footer. There is a phone number that you can call for advice or assistance. Clicking the link will take you to the aidejeu.ca website, which lays out the help available for people who develop gambling problems in Québec.

This includes access to counseling, resources and detailed information — plus a list of useful links. If you are worried about your own gambling patterns or those of a loved one, you can find out whether this is becoming problem gambling.

Funding causes in Québec

In the latest fiscal year, Loto-Québec paid more than $1.328 million toward good causes. This helped fund major government programmes. Specific areas that benefited include health care, infrastructure and education. Other grants are given for social contributions and environmental initiatives. The lottery and casinos also provide benefits to the province in other ways. More than $400 million was spent on goods and services from local businesses in the last year accounts are available. The corporation employs 5,800 people.

Wrapping up: Playing at Québec Lottery online

You get the best of all worlds via the Québec Lottery. This starts with access to the national jackpot draws, which offer prize pools in the millions every week. There are also big QC-only draws, instant and daily draws, and scratch cards.

When you combine the retail draws with the alternative gambling options via the Espacejeux portal, the choices grow even more. Slots, virtual and live dealer casino games, video poker, bingo, sports betting and Texas Hold’em are all legally available.

Best of all, the money raised stays in Québec, supporting community initiatives in health care, education and the environment.