2 Edmontonians take home pair of $1M Lotto Max prizes

Jean Janson, left, and Ivan Derksen, right, won $1 million each through Lotto Max contests on Oct. 4 and Oct. 14, 2022, respectively. (Photos provided.)

Two Edmontonians recently became $1 million richer after checking their October Lotto Max tickets.

Jean Janson bought her ticket last month at the Mundare Esso. She checked her ticket several times before it sunk in that she'd be able to pay off her house and be debt free.

"I was shocked," Janson recalled in a news release by the AGLC and Western Canada Lottery Corporation. "When I saw I won, I had to look up the numbers online to be sure."

"I've never won nothing big before!"

Another Edmonton local bought his lottery ticket from the Harvest Hills Shell in Ellerslie in mid-October.

Ivan Derksen routinely buys his tickets on Sundays and checks the previous week's numbers.

But on Oct. 14, the Max Millions numbers matched.

"We thought it was $100,000," Derksen said. "We weren't wearing our glasses."

"Once we counted up all the zeroes, we couldn't believe it."

He plans to live his regular life and use the prize to clear his mortgage and help out other family members.

"It still feels surreal, very surreal," he added.