A North Vancouver man’s routine check of lottery numbers turned into a half-million-dollar moment.
In a press release issued March 2, the B.C. Lottery Corporation announced that Ronald P., a North Vancouver resident and avid golfer, won $500,000 from the Feb. 24, 2026, Lotto Max draw. He split a Maxmillion prize with another player in Ontario.
Ronald was sitting at his desk at home when he decided to look up the winning numbers online. At first, the win didn’t register. “At first, I looked at the numbers and thought, ‘No I didn’t win anything,'” he recalled.
It was only after spotting a listed winner in North Vancouver that he took a closer look, checked the numbers manually, and then called BCLC customer support. Staff directed him to download the BCLC Lotto! App to scan and confirm the result.
The first person Ronald told was his wife. He asked her to come inside and read the numbers herself. “She then said, ‘What does that mean?'” he recalled, “and I replied with ‘We won half a million dollars!'”
The press release noted that Ronald plans to purchase a new putter with part of his winnings and invest the rest. He noted that the windfall would improve both his quality of life and his putting game. His winning ticket was purchased at Thrifty Foods on Edgemont Boulevard in North Vancouver.
In 2025, B.C. lottery players redeemed more than $248 million from Lotto Max. The game is drawn nationwide every Tuesday and Friday after 7:30 p.m. PST, with tickets available at lottery retailers and at PlayNow.com.
