New $1M Lotto 6/49 prize to have guaranteed winner each draw: OLG

TORONTO – The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. says it will make more people millionaires each week starting this fall.

The lottery agency is creating a new $1 million prize for Lotto 6/49 and guarantees there will be a winner at each draw.

It’s one of a handful of changes the OLG says will take effect Sept. 15, with the first draw planned for Sept. 18.

Others include jackpots that start at $5 million and new free play prizes that can be won by matching just two numbers out of six.

To offset the cost of the guaranteed $1 million prize, the corporation is raising the price of each play by $1 to $3.

But it says the changes are worth the extra cost because the odds of winning any prize will jump from one in 32.3 to one in 6.6 — nearly five times more.

“These changes will make Lotto 6/49 better than ever while still being the game that Canadians have been playing since 1982,” OLG senior vice-president Greg McKenzie said in a statement.