For ten months, a C$46 million Lotto 6/49 ticket sat quietly in Quesnel, B.C., its owner going about an ordinary life. Then Richard Z. was relaxing at home when he caught the news that someone local had landed the jackpot. He checked the BC Lottery Corporation website on a hunch — and the hunch turned out to be his whole life rearranging itself.
The ticket that waited ten months in Quesnel
Richard had bought his ticket at the Billy Barker Casino in Quesnel for the December 20, 2025 draw. In Lotto 6/49, every play enters two draws, and this was the Gold Ball side of the game — the draw that hands one guaranteed winner the growing Gold Ball jackpot. On that night, the number worth C$46 million belonged to a ticket in a small Cariboo city.
What makes the story unusual is the gap. The win sat unclaimed for most of a year before Richard put the pieces together. His ticket had only been visually validated, he told BCLC, and checking the website left him with an inkling he might be holding the winning line. When the site confirmed it was the Gold Ball, the feeling landed all at once.
"When it said it was the Gold Ball, that's when the overwhelming feelings set in; knowing that out of everyone in Canada, I had the ticket that won $46 million," he told BCLC.
He shared the news with his wife first. There were tears of joy, he said — overwhelming in the best way. Then the couple did something the size of the prize doesn't demand: they decided not to rush. No grand overhaul, no new life bought overnight. They want to move forward slowly and, by Richard's own account, keep their lives simple.
The one plan they have named is a trip. "My wife and I want to do some travelling and I want to see the pyramids," Richard told BCLC. He completed his claim at BCLC's Kamloops office in October 2026, roughly ten months after the draw he almost missed.
What stays with you here isn't the figure — it's the restraint. A C$46 million win is a genuine long shot; a Lotto 6/49 jackpot of this size lands on a single ticket out of an enormous field, and every draw is random and independent, with no pattern that makes it likelier for anyone. Richard happened to hold that one ticket. What he's chosen to do with it — a slow start, a simple life, a long-wished-for look at the pyramids — is the quiet, human part the numbers never show.
In Canada, a lottery prize like this is tax-free; the winnings themselves are not taxed. If you want to see how that night's game sat, you can look up the full results for the December 20, 2025 draw or read how Lotto 6/49 actually works, two draws and all.
Play for fun, within a budget you set in advance, and only if you're of legal age where you live. If gambling has stopped being fun, support is available through the problem gambling helpline for your province or territory — the Responsible Gambling Council lists every one on its Help for Canadians page.
Always confirm winning numbers, prize amounts, and deadlines with the official operator before acting on a ticket — the operator's published results are the only ones that count.
Sources
- BC Lottery Corporation, October 2026 — Quesnel Resident to Visit the Pyramids After Winning $46-Million Lotto 6/49 Jackpot
- BC Lottery Corporation (via CKPG News), December 21, 2025 — $46-million Lotto 6/49 winning ticket sold in Quesnel
