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Summary

A Montreal-area lottery winner has no clue they're about to lose $1 million

The winning ticket was never claimed!

Loto-Québec printing machine.

Loto-Québec has been trying to track down this mystery millionaire since the beginning of the year.

Loto-Québec
Senior Writer

Somewhere near Montreal, someone is walking around with a winning lottery ticket worth a million dollars, and they have absolutely no idea.

Loto-Québec has been trying to track down this mystery millionaire since the beginning of the year, but the lucky ticket holder still hasn't come forward to claim their prize. And here's the kicker: they've only got until early January to figure it out before that money disappears forever.

The winning ticket was purchased somewhere in the Laurentides region north of Montreal and matched the lucky combination for the January 4, 2025, Lotto 6/49 draw. That was almost a full year ago at this point.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Despite nearly twelve months passing, nobody has shown up at Loto-Quebec's offices to claim the prize. The deadline to collect is January 4, 2026, which means whoever bought this ticket has just a few weeks left to dig through their junk drawers, coat pockets, and car glove compartments.

Here's what you need to know if you bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket in the Laurentides back in early January:

  • Draw date: January 4, 2025
  • Prize amount: $1,000,000
  • Winning selection: 66457230-01
  • Claim deadline: January 4, 2026

Loto-Québec keeps an updated list of unclaimed prizes over $100,000 on its website, and as of December 15, there are a half-dozen major prizes still waiting to be collected. That million-dollar ticket from the Laurentides is the biggest one on the list.

There's also another significant unclaimed prize expiring in January: a $168,202 Lotto 6/49 ticket from the Estrie region. That one matched five numbers plus the bonus from the January 8, 2025 draw (09, 10, 12, 22, 32, 34, with complementary number 47) and needs to be claimed by January 8, 2026.

So if you were anywhere near the Laurentides or Estrie regions at the start of this year and happened to buy lottery tickets, now would be an excellent time to start looking for them.

This article is adapted from "Millionnaire recherché par Loto-Québec : Il va perdre son 1 M$ en janvier 2026," which was published on Narcity.

  • Alexander Sciola
  • Born and raised in Montreal, Al Sciola is a Senior Writer for MTL Blog. With a background in covering sports and local events, he has a knack for finding stories that capture the city’s spirit. A lifelong Canadiens fan and trivia enthusiast, Al spends his downtime sipping espresso and trying out new recipes in the kitchen.