Catherine Reimer was travelling back home to Port Alberni from Victoria when she learned that she won a $500,000 Extra prize from the April 26, 2025 Lotto 6/49 draw.
“I checked the ticket and I don’t think you can share the words that I said,” Reimer laughs, recalling the moment she realized she won. “Then I just screamed, ‘I won the lottery!’”
The Port Alberni resident told her kids first and then shared the news with her husband shortly after. “I had to call him a few times and when he called back, he wouldn’t believe me! It took my kids screaming in the background for him to believe me.”
Reimer used the BCLC Lotto! App to check her ticket, but just to make sure, she stopped by a retailer to confirm her win.
"It feels surreal," she said. "Just right now, surreal."
Reimer purchased her ticket at the Petro Canada in Nanoose Bay on East Island Highway.
Apart from celebrating with her family on the day she discovered her win, Reimer is taking some time to plan how she wants to spend her winnings.
So far in 2025, B.C. lottery players have redeemed more than $21 million from Extra and $15 million from Lotto 6/49. Lotto 6/49 is a nationwide lottery game drawn on Wednesdays and Saturdays after 7:30 p.m. (PST).
