Security and Accuracy

Draw Procedure

1

A standard draw begins with the ball machine operator opening the room where the ball machines and their command console are stored. Representatives of two teams, made up of Loto‑Québec employees and external auditors, together open the safe containing the balls used for draws. Each team knows one part of the safe’s combination.

2

While the operator sets up the ball machines, connects the electric cables that link them to the command console and performs various tests to ensure that the machinery is operational, the auditors and the draw supervisor examine the balls before placing them into the insertion mechanism of each ball machine, where they are again verified once in place.

3

Once wagers have been closed and verified, in response to a signal from the draw supervisor, the operator sets the ball insertion mechanism in motion and selects the number of balls to be drawn from each ball machine. Also on a signal from the draw supervisor, after tumbling the balls at high speed for a minimum of five seconds, the operator initiates the release of the balls down the chutes.

4

Once chance has done its work, the auditors review and countersign the official draw reports, which will be sent to the media, and write their own observation reports. Next, still attended by the auditors, the balls are examined once more after they are inserted in locked cases and returned to their safe.

5

Following strict security standards and procedures, Loto‑Québec’s draw teams then transmit and distribute the draw results via the Loto‑Québec Web site and other means of publication to make them known to the public as quickly as possible. Video footage of the draws is available exclusively in the Video Zone.

Special Procedure for Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49

The draws for Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49, two Canada-wide lotteries, take place in Toronto. Loto‑Québec and the country’s four other lottery corporations meet under the auspices of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation* (ILC), where they submit to procedures that are similar in terms of security and integrity. Thus, before every draw, each corporation notifies the ILC in Toronto once it has closed off the participating wagers in its territory.

Once the draw has taken place, the ILC notifies each of the five lottery corporations of the winning draw numbers. These corporations then run the results through their computer systems to determine the number of winners in their territory. Afterwards, the corporations send this information to the ILC so it can establish the countrywide prize division, which is distributed mainly through Loto-Québec’s Web site, newspapers and other media. This process takes place under the constant vigilance of external auditors from Toronto, together with the lottery corporations involved.

* Located in Toronto, the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation forms a partnership of Canada’s five lottery corporations: Loto‑Québec, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the Western Canada Lottery Corporation, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation.