Daily Grand Number Generator

Daily Grand is a national game of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (ILC), sold in all five Canadian lottery regions: BCLC, the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, OLG, Loto-Québec and Atlantic Lottery. In Quebec it goes by its French name, Grande Vie.

OLG announced it on October 17, 2016 as "Canada's newest national lottery". Tickets went on sale on Tuesday, October 18, 2016 and the first draw was held on Thursday, October 20, 2016. The two lifetime prizes, the $3 price and the Monday and Thursday draws are the same today as at launch; the current game conditions took effect on January 22, 2024. Loto-Québec gives the game a theoretical payout rate of 49% of sales.

What sets it apart from the other national games is that its two biggest prizes are lifetime payments rather than a jackpot. Matching everything pays $1,000 every day for the rest of the winner's life, and matching the five main numbers without the Grand Number pays $25,000 a year for life. Neither amount grows when nobody wins.

Each play holds five Main Numbers from 1 to 49 and one Grand Number, marked GN on the ticket, from 1 to 7. In each draw the ILC picks five different Main Numbers from 1 to 49 and, from a separate set, one Grand Number from 1 to 7. Because the two fields are separate, the Grand Number can be the same as one of the main numbers drawn, but it only ever matches the GN on your ticket, never a main number. WCLC compares it to drawing five cards from one deck and a sixth from a second, smaller deck.

Draws are held every Monday and Thursday evening with random number generator software certified by Gaming Laboratories International, under the eyes of two external auditors, Grant Thornton and Deloitte. Tickets are sold until 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on draw night (22:30 at Loto-Québec). In British Columbia, PlayNow stops online sales at 8:21 p.m. Pacific Time and BCLC lists the draw as after 8:30 p.m. Pacific. In the Prairies and the North, local cut-offs follow the clock change: for example 9:30 p.m. in Alberta and Saskatchewan and 8:30 p.m. in Yukon from November to March.

On dates of its choosing the ILC can hold extra draws or raise prizes. OLG's Bonus Draws, for instance, add 15 prizes of up to $1,000 a day for a month, paid as one $31,000 lump sum.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: OLG Daily Grand FAQ and BCLC PlayNow.

Every selection costs $3 per draw. In Ontario a Quick Pick ticket can hold up to 10 selections and a self-picked ticket up to 4; a BCLC slip takes 5 and a BCLC Quick Pick 10. PlayNow in British Columbia always assigns the Grand Number at random, while OLG and WCLC slips let you mark it yourself.

The Combination Play option costs $21: you choose five main numbers and the terminal prints seven selections, one with each Grand Number from 1 to 7. Since one of those seven always matches the GN drawn, the ticket is certain to win at least a Free Play. Tickets can also be bought for several draws in a row, for example up to 26 draws (13 weeks) at OLG retailers and 1 to 25 draws in the WCLC region.

Side games cost $1 a play and vary by region: ENCORE in Ontario, EXTRA in Quebec, in the WCLC region (top prize $250,000, second prize $100,000) and in British Columbia (top prize $500,000, any-prize odds of 1 in 6.5). Online, Daily Grand is sold on OLG.ca, PlayNow.com for British Columbia and Manitoba, the Loto-Québec website and mobile app, and the WCLC Lotto Spot app.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: WCLC Daily Grand and OLG Daily Grand.

The 1,906,884 ways to choose 5 numbers from 49, multiplied by 7 possible Grand Numbers, give 13,348,188 combinations, and our count reproduces each official figure. For example, 220 combinations match 4 main numbers plus the GN (1 in 60,674), and six times as many, 1,320, match 4 without it (1 in 10,112). Two, one or zero main numbers without the Grand Number win nothing, and a selection only collects the single prize for its best match. Every prize below the top two is a fixed amount, not a share of a pool. The lottery odds calculator shows the same arithmetic for other games.

Checked: 2026-11-04, source: OLG, DAILY GRAND Game Conditions.

A winner of either top prize chooses between the annuity and the lump sum, and has 60 days after presenting the claim to decide. The choice is final, and a winner who does not choose in time, or does not supply the details or release the annuity needs, is paid the lump sum. The annuity is bought from a third-party provider selected by the ILC and runs for the winner's whole life with a minimum of 20 years. Top-prize winners who take it get an initial payment covering the first 10 weeks while it is set up; after that the ILC and the provider set the payment intervals.

The lump sum is the only option when there is more than one winning selection in the category, when one ticket belongs to several people, when the winner is under the age of majority or lives outside Canada, or when an annuity cannot be arranged on reasonable terms. Several winners split the lump sum equally, so two top winners take $3.5 million each and two second-prize winners $250,000 each; amounts are rounded up to the next 10 cents ($2,333,333.40 each for three top winners).

If an annuity winner dies within the first 20 years, the beneficiary receives either the remaining payments for the rest of that 20-year term or their commuted value in one sum; several beneficiaries receive the commuted value, divided. After 20 years the payments simply end with the winner's life. Annuity payments cannot be sold, assigned or pledged without the ILC's written consent.

Prizes must be claimed within one year of the draw date, in the region that sold the ticket (a ticket bought in Ontario can be redeemed only in Ontario). WCLC states that lottery prizes are tax-free in Canada, with one exception specific to this game: annuity payments are taxable income. To make up for it, each payment is grossed up at the highest federal and provincial or territorial marginal rate of the winner's province at the time of the claim, so the net is about the advertised $1,000 a day or $25,000 a year. No adjustment is made later if tax rates change or the winner moves.

Mark the five main numbers and the Grand Number from the generator on a Daily Grand selection slip, or enter them in your region's lottery app. Buy before 10:30 p.m. ET on Monday or Thursday. On PlayNow in British Columbia only the five main numbers carry over, since the site draws the GN for you. Details in how to play a quick pick.

Ontario sets the lottery age at 18; the age elsewhere is set by each province, so check your provincial lottery before buying. Help lines: ConnexOntario (1-866-531-2600) in Ontario, Jeu : aide et référence (1-800-461-0140) in Quebec; read more on responsible play and on whether draws can be predicted.