‘What are all those zeroes?!’ CEGEP employee from Bois-Francs wins $46 million jackpot

Claude Boucher of Bois-Francs, Que. took home the $46 million Lotto 6/49 jackpot. (Loto-Quebec)

Nope. It wasn’t you.

It was Claude.

Claude Boucher, to be exact, has 46 million reasons to smile after the Bois-Francs resident won the Gold Ball Jackpot on Aug. 27’s Lotto 6/49 draw.

The CEGEP de Victoriaville employee in the Centre-de-Quebec region bought the winning ticket online using his usual numbers.

He found out he was a winner via email.

“I was scrolling quickly and I thought, ‘$46,000 isn’t too bad! But what are all those zeros? Oh, it’s $46,000,000!’” he said.

He was the third Quebecer to take home a big prize to finish August.

“The Grande Vie lottery game top prize of $1,000 a day for life was won twice in Québec, in addition to the $46,000,000 jackpot we’re handing out today,” said Loto-Quebec executive vice president Isabelle Jean.

Boucher said he is considering retiring early and heading back to Switzerland, where he lived with his wife in the ’80s.

He also wants to spoil his loved ones, according to a Loto-Quebec news release.

Other Loto-Quebec winners can be found on the company’s website. The company says it paid out almost $1.8 billion in prizes across the province in 2024.