What people in Saskatchewan want to spend their possible lottery windfall on seems to be a reflection of the change in the cost of living according to data from a Leger survey conducted on behalf of Western Canada Lottery Corporation.

Emily Olsen, media relations with WCLC says they are launching a new prize category of $100,000 and wanted to know what that amount of cash would mean to Saskatchewan residents.

“People who are excited to finally get to those renovations they’d been dreaming of, someone who was planning to travel overseas to visit family for the first time in a very long time which is a story we do hear time to time with winners. As well as people who were putting off certain plans – retirement, upgrades to their homes, trips, river cruises, things they were excited to do and supporting family to go to post-secondary institutions as well.

Under a new format for LOTTO MAX, the number of $100,000 prizes scales with the jackpot so 10 prizes when the jackpot is $10 million, 20 at $20 million and so on, up to 90 prizes at the new $90 million cap. The overall odds of winning any prize improved from approximately 1 in 7 to approximately 1 in 5.8. Olsen stresses lottery isn’t a financial plan people need to play within their means and helps is available if someone is concerned about their gambling.