Lotto 6/49 is the older of Canada’s two national draw games and the simpler entry point: a single $3 play and a straightforward 6-from-49 number pick. Since 2022 it also carries the Gold Ball draw, an extra layer bolted on top of the classic format. This chapter covers how the game is structured, the classic odds, and how it stacks up against Lotto Max.
Draw schedule and the classic play
Lotto 6/49 draws happen every Wednesday and Saturday. A standard play costs $3: choosing six numbers from a field of 1 to 49, plus a separate bonus number drawn to determine one of the mid-tier prizes. This is the “Classic Draw,” the core game that has run since the 1980s and still anchors the ticket.
Classic Draw odds and prize tiers
Matching all six main numbers is the jackpot, carrying odds of 1 in 13,983,816 — one of the most widely cited odds figures in Canadian lottery history. Below the jackpot, prizes scale as pari-mutuel structures do: each additional number you miss makes the tier more common. The table below sets out the officially published Classic Draw structure.
| Match | Prize | Approx. odds |
|---|---|---|
| 6 of 6 (jackpot) | Win or share $5 million+ | 1 in 13,983,816 |
| 5 of 6 + bonus | Share of pools fund | 1 in 2,330,636 |
| 5 of 6 | Share of pools fund | 1 in 55,492 |
| 4 of 6 | Share of pools fund | 1 in 1,033 |
| 3 of 6 | Fixed small prize | 1 in 57 |
| 2 of 6 + bonus | Fixed small prize | 1 in 81 |
| 2 of 6 | Free play | 1 in 8 |
Odds and tiers as published by the operating corporations for the Classic Draw; pari-mutuel prize amounts vary slightly by draw — the play slip and your corporation’s own odds page carry the definitive current numbers.
The Prize Ladder
The same tool, built from the Classic Draw’s own seven tiers — click a rung.
The Gold Ball draw
Since 2022, every Lotto 6/49 play also enters a second, separate draw: the Gold Ball. A machine draws balls from a pool where all but one is white and one is gold; matching the gold ball wins that draw’s jackpot, while white-ball matches pay a fixed secondary prize. It’s a genuinely separate mechanism layered on top of the Classic Draw, not a replacement — a single $3 ticket covers both.
Lotto Max vs. Lotto 6/49, side by side
Both games are national, sold by all five corporations, and drawn twice weekly, though price, format and jackpot behaviour differ. Full detail on the other game is in our Lotto Max chapter.
| Lotto Max | Lotto 6/49 | |
|---|---|---|
| Draw days | Tuesday & Friday | Wednesday & Saturday |
| Standard play price | $6 (four lines) | $3 (one line) |
| Number field | 7 from a larger pool | 6 from 1–49 |
| Jackpot odds (per standard play) | 1 in 33,446,140 | 1 in 13,983,816 |
| Jackpot range | Resets ~$10M, caps ~$90M + Max Millions | Starts at $5M, grows uncapped between wins |
| Extra add-on draw | Max Millions (automatic once capped) | Gold Ball (every play, since 2022) |
Buying, claiming and staying alert
Lotto 6/49 is sold everywhere Lotto Max is sold, at retail nationwide and, where a provincial online platform exists, directly through it — ALC.ca ↗ in Atlantic Canada or PlayNow ↗ in British Columbia. The system behind both national games is covered in full in how Canadian lotteries work. If you’ve got a winning ticket, walk through how to verify it safely rather than trusting a link or a call; genuine 6/49 wins are never announced to you first by a stranger, a pattern our lottery scams chapter covers in detail.
The published odds above are fixed and don’t change with strategy or “hot numbers.” If play ever stops feeling fun, the responsible gambling page has free, province-wide support tools.