‘If we can win, anyone can win’: QEII Home Lottery win life-changing for N.S. couple

CTV's Suzette Belliveau speaks with previous winners of the QEII Home Lottery grand prize show home.

Winning one of the grand prizes in the QEII Home Lottery can be life changing.

Jan and Rick MacKay won the lottery’s grand prize show home in spring 2023, and they haven’t looked back.

“When I won, I did recognize Susan’s voice cause I was playing on my phone,” explains Jan. “When she called, it was like no, I thought she was calling cause I won a toaster or something simple cause I’ve never won anything.”

The MacKays sold the grand prize show home and decided to build on their property in Head of St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S. They tore down their original home and started construction from the ground up.

“It changed our lives, big time,” says Rick. “I didn’t have to continually try to repair the old house, which was, it used to be an old barn.”

Jan and Rick retired after their big win and now enjoy spending time together in their new home.

They’re also treating themselves. Jan says a pool is coming later this year, and Rick bought a new toy – a 1969 corvette.

“I got my car,” he says. “I wanted one when I was 16,17 years old.”

“We’re taking our dream trip,” adds Jan. “Our dream trip is going to Scotland. My father was born in Glasgow.”

The MacKays say while winning the QEII Home Lottery has changed their life, it hasn’t changed them.

Jan and Rick say they’re grateful for what the win has provided them.

“Sometimes waking up and I’m pinching myself to see if this is true or not,” says Rick. “But it is.”

The couple has been purchasing tickets for the past 20 years and they still do, because they see the importance of supporting the QEII Foundation.

“If we can win, anyone can win,” says Jan.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page