The BC Lotto – British Columbia Lottery Corporation – has been in the lottery business for a long time - starting up over 30 years ago.

The BCLC has been offering lottery games to the British Columbian public since 1985. Before this, BC Lotteries was a part of the Western Canada Lottery Foundation.

BC Lotteries are members of the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation (ILC) in Canada. The ILC is an organization the runs lottery games across Canada.

The Interprovincial Lottery Corporation is based in Toronto, Ontario and is made up of 5 lottery commissions from the various provinces and these 5 Canadian lottery companies jointly own the ILC.

The other Canadian lotteries that make up the ILC along with the BC Lottery are the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, the Ontario Lottery and Gambling Corporation, Loto-Quebec and the Western Canada Lottery Corporation.

The ILC was created in 1976 by the provincial Canadian lotto companies to oversee and operate country-wide lottery games right across Canada and today it operates 3 massive Canadian Lotteries – Lotto 649, Lotto Super 7 and Millionaire Life.

The BCLC is responsible for marketing the national ILC games of Lotto 649 & Lotto Super 7 within the province of British Columbia.

BC49 is the traditional draw-style, pick six lotto game of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. It is the BCLC flagship game and is the BC-only lottery that gives you the chance to win $2 million for just a dollar.

The BC Lottery BC49 uses a matrix of 6/49 and British Columbia Lotteries make the draw twice per week on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7.30pm pacific time.

Unlike some Canadian lotteries and many of the USA Lottery games, the BC49 doesn’t roll over if the jackpot is not won. The top prize remains at $2 million.

This is because, naturally, the BC Lotteries game has a smaller number of players than the country-wide games of Lotto 649 and Lotto Super 7, so to ensure a $2 million jackpot for every draw for a BC-only game means that the BCLC needs to cap the Jackpot at $2 million.

We are happy to have reviewed the BC49 from BC Lottery and would recommend giving it a go to try out your luck – first of all, though, take a look at how it works below…

The BC Lotteries – BC49 – uses what’s known as a 6/49 matrix - which means that when playing the BC49, you need to select 6 numbers from a pool of numbers from 1 to 49 – if you match all 6 numbers drawn then you will be a jackpot winner.

As well as the 6 main numbers, a 7th number is drawn. This is the bonus number and is drawn after the 6 main numbers.

In addition to the jackpot itself, there are 5 other ways in which you can win on the BC lotto 649 - with prizes to be won if you match either 5 main numbers plus the bonus number, 5 main numbers, 4 main numbers, 3 main numbers or even just 2 main numbers plus the bonus number.

A “Quick Pick” facility is available when playing the BC49 - very much the same as the “Lucky Dip” option that is used in the UK National Lottery or Europe’s Euro-Millions or many other Canadian Lottery & USA lottery games – which means that you can ask the lottery retailer or computer to randomly select all your BC Lottery numbers for you.

So, playing the BC49 is simple…just select your own 6 numbers or request them to be randomly generated for you by using the “Quick Pick” option.

The cost of playing the BC49 is just $1 CAD per 6 number selection.

Along with many other Canada lottery & USA Lottery games, the BCLC make their draws for the BC49 using an automated drawing machine (ADM), also known as a Random Number Generator (RNG). The BC 649 lotto numbers are drawn using this method as opposed to the traditional way of using numbered balls drawn from a drum.

As with most Canada lotto & USA Lotto games, previously only citizens living in the province of British Columbia were allowed to play in any of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation games including the BC49. You used to have to purchase your BC lottery tickets from an authorized retailer based in British Columbia itself.

Nowadays, though, with a good number of online lottery ticket sales retailers available, such as TheLotter, who are both authorized and genuine - you are able to select your BC Lottery numbers online and purchase your tickets without worrying about where in the world you may live.

This is great news of course if you live outside of British Columbia and Canada and want to play the BC49 and ensure your entry into the next draw or just want to have the convenience and ease of being able to buy lottery tickets online.

Once you have entered into the BC Lotto draw, you can then easily check your chosen BC Lottery results online to see how you have done and to find out if you have become one of the lucky BC49 winners.

Unlike nearly all of the other USA & Canada lotteries, in British Columbia you will need to be 19 years of age to be eligible to purchase a ticket for any of the BC Lottery Corp. games including the BC649.