Québec 49: how Loto-Québec's $1 lottery works
Québec 49 is Loto-Québec's $1 number lottery. You pick six numbers from 1 to 49, and a draw every Wednesday and Saturday decides whether you win anything from $5 up to a shared $2,000,000 top prize. It uses the same number grid as Lotto 6/49, costs a third of the price, and is sold only through Loto-Québec. This guide covers how a selection works, the full prize table with Loto-Québec's published odds, how much of each dollar comes back on average, what the Double Jeu 49 and the Extra add, and how to claim a win. All figures come from Loto-Québec's game rules and game explanations pages, checked on November 10, 2026.
If you also play on lotoquebec.com, our guide to Espacejeux, Loto-Québec's online casino covers the account side, and our guide to Quotidienne 3 explains Loto-Québec's nightly digit games.
How Québec 49 works
Each selection costs $1 and is six numbers from 1 to 49. Loto-Québec draws six winning numbers plus a complementary number, also from 1 to 49, every Wednesday and Saturday. Sales close at 10:30 p.m. on draw days.
You can play in three ways: hand a filled-in selection slip to a retailer, ask the terminal for a quick pick, or buy online at lotoquebec.com or in the Loto-Québec app. The rules say a ticket only counts once your selection is recorded in Loto-Québec's central system, so the printed ticket or the online confirmation is your proof of play.
A few options sit on top of the basic $1 play:
- Multiple draws. You can buy the same selection for several draws on one ticket.
- Rejouer. The replay option plays the same numbers again from an earlier ticket.
- Combination play. Québec 49 can be played in combination, which covers more numbers and multiplies the number of $1 selections you pay for.
- Bundles. Québec 49 is included in the Double Jeu 49, the Forfait lottos and the Super forfait. For a nightly draw, our guide to how keno works covers Banco, Loto-Québec's keno.
Each winning selection earns one prize: the highest tier it matches.
Prizes and odds
This is Loto-Québec's published prize table for one $1 selection.
| Match | Prize | Odds (1 in) |
|---|---|---|
| 6/6 | $2,000,000, shared | 13,983,816 |
| 5/6 + complementary | $75,000 (average) | 2,330,636 |
| 5/6 | $750 | 55,492 |
| 4/6 | $75 | 1,033 |
| 3/6 | $10 | 56.7 |
| 2/6 + complementary | $5 | 81.2 |
| Any prize | 32.3 |
Two rules change what these numbers mean in practice.
The top prize is shared. The $2,000,000 for matching all six numbers is a set amount split among all winning selections in that draw. If two tickets hit 6/6 on the same night, each gets $1,000,000.
The second tier is capped. The 5/6 plus complementary prize is listed at $75,000 on average, but the total paid in that tier is capped at $450,000 per draw. If the cap is reached, the $450,000 is split pro rata among the winning selections.
The overall odds of 1 in 32.3 sound friendly, but they are carried by the small prizes. Working from the same table, about 97 of every 100 winning selections are the $10 prize for 3/6 or the $5 prize for 2/6 plus the complementary number.
How much of each dollar comes back
You can work out the long-run return from the table itself: divide each prize by its odds and add the results. For one $1 selection:
| Tier | Prize divided by odds | Value per $1 |
|---|---|---|
| 6/6 | $2,000,000 / 13,983,816 | about 14.3 cents |
| 5/6 + C | $75,000 / 2,330,636 | about 3.2 cents |
| 5/6 | $750 / 55,492 | about 1.4 cents |
| 4/6 | $75 / 1,033 | about 7.3 cents |
| 3/6 | $10 / 56.7 | about 17.6 cents |
| 2/6 + C | $5 / 81.2 | about 6.2 cents |
| Total | about 50 cents |
That 50 cents is the best case. It assumes you never share the top prize and that the $450,000 cap on the second tier is never reached. Over a large number of plays, about half of what goes into Québec 49 comes back as prizes, and more than a quarter of that value sits in the 6/6 prize that almost nobody wins. For a regular player, the realistic return is the $5 and $10 tiers plus the occasional $75.
Does the way you pick numbers matter?
No. Loto-Québec's responsible gambling site, Bien jouer, explains that winning numbers in draw lotteries are selected by a random number generator and that each draw is independent of the draws before and after it. A quick pick has exactly the same chance as your own numbers, and a set that has not come up in months is no more "due" than any other. Draws take place under the supervision of an external audit firm.
The only thing that changes your chance of winning is the number of selections you buy, and each extra selection adds exactly one more chance in 13,983,816 at the top prize.
Double Jeu 49: Québec 49 with Lotto 6/49
Choosing the Double Jeu 49 plays the same six numbers in Lotto 6/49 and Québec 49 on the same date, for $4: $3 for Lotto 6/49 and $1 for Québec 49. The Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball number counts only for Lotto 6/49.
| Québec 49 | Lotto 6/49 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per play | $1 | $3 |
| Draw days | Wednesday and Saturday | Wednesday and Saturday |
| Number grid | 6 numbers from 1 to 49 | 6 numbers from 1 to 49 |
| Prize for 6/6 | $2,000,000, shared | $5,000,000, fixed (Classic draw) |
| Second draw | None | Gold Ball: a 10-digit number for the Gold Ball jackpot or $1,000,000 |
Because both games use six numbers from 49, the chance of hitting 6/6 is the same in each: Bien jouer puts it at about one in 14 million for a six-number combination. The difference is price and prize size. Québec 49 also runs in group play: a Québec 49 share costs $1 per draw and a Double Jeu 49 share costs $4.
Adding the Extra
The Extra is a seven-digit number that costs $1 per draw and cannot be played on its own. You add it to a game like Québec 49, up to 10 Extra numbers per ticket. With Québec 49, the Extra is valid for the Wednesday or Saturday draw on the same date.
Matching all seven digits pays $1,000,000, shared, at odds of 1 in 10,000,000. Smaller prizes come from matching digits from either end of the number, for example $25,000 for the last six digits and $10,000 for the first six. At a retailer, check that the ticket shows "EXTRA" and the draw day. A ticket marked "EXTRA NON PARTICIPANT" is not entered in the Extra draw.
Checking your ticket and claiming a prize
- Sign the ticket. Loto-Québec tells players to check the ticket and sign it before leaving the point of sale.
- Small prizes. Prizes of $600 or less can be claimed at any Loto-Québec retailer.
- Larger prizes. Prizes over $600 are paid through Loto-Québec, at its offices in Montreal and Quebec City or through its claim process. The largest prizes are paid in person at a Loto-Québec office.
- Deadline. Winners have 12 months after the draw to claim. Loto-Québec publishes a list of unclaimed prizes of $100,000 or more a few weeks after each draw, and prizes that are never claimed go back to players as bonus prizes and special draws.
- Taxes. The Canada Revenue Agency says you generally do not report lottery winnings of any amount. Interest you earn once you invest the money is taxable. Our guide to gambling winnings and tax in Quebec covers the details.
Who can play
You must be 18 or older. Loto-Québec states that selling lottery tickets to minors is against the law, and every lottery product carries the 18+ logo. Online, your age is confirmed when you open your lotoquebec.com account.
Keeping it a $1 game
Québec 49 is cheap per play, but multi-draw tickets, combination play and the Extra add up fast. Two draws a week at $1 is $104 a year; adding an Extra to each play doubles that. If lottery spending stops feeling like a small, fixed cost, Jeu : aide et référence is free and confidential at 1-800-461-0140.
Sources
- Loto-Québec, Règles de jeux (Québec 49, Lotto 6/49, Extra, Groupe en ligne)
- Loto-Québec, Explications des jeux (Québec 49, Double Jeu 49, Extra)
- Loto-Québec, Québec 49
- Loto-Québec Bien jouer, Loteries
- Loto-Québec Bien jouer, Does choosing our numbers increase our odds?
- Loto-Québec, unclaimed prizes release (October 24, 2019)
- Loto-Québec, how to claim a lottery prize (release, June 30, 2016)
- Loto-Québec, responsible commercialization actions (PDF)
- Canada Revenue Agency, Amounts that are not reported or taxed
Key terms
- Random number generator (RNG)
- An RNG (random number generator, "générateur de nombres aléatoires") is the software that decides slot and table game results. Labs certify it.
- House edge
- The cut a game is built to keep for the casino on average, shown as a percentage of what you bet.
- Implied probability
- The win chance hidden inside the odds: turn any price into a percentage and you see what the book thinks will happen.