Lottery explained

Scratch ticket prizes remaining lists in Canada: how to read them properly

Casino newsUpdated October 28, 2026

A prizes remaining list counts prizes that have not been claimed yet, not prizes that are still unsold. OLG posts an unclaimed INSTANT prizes report, updated daily for Ontario-only games, and the WCLC page shows unclaimed prizes of $100 or more for each Scratch & Win game. Both are useful for spotting games whose top prizes are gone, but neither tells you where the winning tickets are.

What a prizes remaining list actually counts

Every scratch game starts with a fixed number of tickets and a fixed number of prizes. OLG's PlaySmart site uses a real example: an Instant Crossword game with 21,155,400 tickets printed and 6,141,887 prizes, which works out to overall odds of 1 in 3.44. Another, THE BIG SPIN, had 5,369,600 tickets and 1,358,065 prizes, for overall odds of 1 in 3.95. Those totals are set before printing, so a game's prize structure is known from day one.

What changes is how many of those prizes are still out there. The key detail is the word the lotteries use: unclaimed. WCLC's page lists prizes of $100 or more that have not yet been claimed. A top prize sitting on a ticket that someone bought last week but has not cashed still counts as remaining. So the list is a count of prizes nobody has collected, which overlaps with, but is not the same as, prizes still on store shelves. If you are new to how instant games are built, our explainer on scratch cards covers the basics.

How the lotteries publish them

We were able to open the remaining-prize pages of two lottery operators. BCLC, Loto-Québec and Atlantic Lottery all sell scratch tickets, but their pages either blocked access or did not load their prize data for us, so we do not describe their formats here.

The asterisk on WCLC's list matters. Those games are sold in all participating jurisdictions in Canada, and for them the remaining count covers unclaimed prizes everywhere, based on information provided to WCLC. A national game may show one top prize left, and that ticket could be anywhere in the country.

Reading a list, step by step

1. Match the game number, not just the name. The WCLC page shows several games under the same name with different numbers, often at the same price. The number on your ticket tells you which edition you hold.
2. Look at the release date. On WCLC's list it marks the date ticket distribution began. An old game with plenty of small prizes left may simply have sold slowly; a new one has had less time for claims.
3. Read the top rows first. If the top prize count is zero, every top prize in that game has been claimed. On WCLC's list, the lowest tier shown is $100, so smaller prizes do not appear at all.
4. Check for the national marker. On WCLC's list, an asterisk means the count is national, not regional.
5. Check the update date. Lists lag reality. OLG updates Ontario-only games daily and others weekly, and WCLC shows when its page was last updated.

Why a game with no top prizes left can still be on sale

It sounds unfair, but it follows from how the games are built. A game's prize pool is spread across every tier, and most of the prizes are small. On PlaySmart, OLG puts the overall odds of winning any prize on an instant ticket at roughly 1 in 3, while the odds of a top prize are generally closer to 1 in a million. When the last top prize is claimed, the remaining packs still hold the lower tiers they were printed with.

There is also a timing problem. Packs are already in stores when the last top prize is claimed, and the tickets in them still carry their printed prizes. None of the official pages we opened promises that a game is pulled from sale the moment its top prizes are gone. WCLC's page runs the other way too: it warns that some tickets on its list may no longer be available at retail even though they still have prizes listed, and that availability at individual retailers varies.

That is exactly why the lists exist. On PlaySmart, the explanation is that once a game is launched, it is nearly impossible to track the odds because the number of purchased tickets keeps changing, so OLG posts claimed and unclaimed prizes to help players make informed decisions. If the top prize is what you are buying the ticket for, check the list before you pay.

End of game: expiry dates and claims

Scratch tickets do not run on the one-year-from-the-draw rule that applies to draw games. OLG's prize FAQ is explicit that prizes won on INSTANT games can be claimed until the expiry date printed on the back of the ticket. WCLC's unclaimed prizes page gives the same rule for Scratch & Win, and its remaining-prizes page notes that prizes can be claimed until the expiry date listed on each ticket. WCLC keeps a game on its list while it is either still in the market or not yet expired.

Claim routes depend on the amount:

• Ontario. For prizes under $1,000, PlaySmart directs you to take the signed ticket to a participating retailer to be verified at the lottery terminal. Larger prizes go through OLG's claim process.
• Western Canada. At WCLC, prizes up to $100 are validated automatically at the terminal and the retailer must pay or arrange payment. Retailers may decline to pay prizes above $100 and up to $1,000. Prizes of $1,001 and up are claimed by appointment at a prize office or by mail, and Player Care at 1-800-665-3313 handles the arrangements.

Whatever the province, sign the back of the ticket and check the expiry date the day you buy it.

What the lists cannot tell you

A remaining-prizes list does not make any ticket more likely to win. Instant tickets are printed under a randomised process and distributed so that no one in the chain can identify a winner. PlaySmart's explanation is that the odds are the same at every retailer, and that playing a more expensive game does not by itself increase the odds of winning. The same independence applies on a casino floor, as our guide to slot odds explains for machines.

Use the list for one narrow decision: whether the prize you actually care about is still unclaimed. Beyond that, a scratch ticket is a small entertainment purchase, and the responsible gambling tools provinces offer apply to lottery spending as much as to casinos.

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