A group of 12 colleagues from Markham, Ont., say they don't plan on retiring after picking up the $60 million jackpot at the Ontario Lottery headquarters Thursday.
The group of workers, who are employed by Canadian Black Book, purchased their ticket in Brampton, Ont. and will each receive $5 million.
One of the winners, Dennis Cartier, told reporters he was on his way to pick up a burrito for lunch when he checked the winning ticket.
"I stopped at a gas station and decided to check the tickets. I check the tickets and it said big winner $60 million," Cartier said.
Cartier said he went home and pinned the winning ticket to his fridge.
The group of co-workers said they have been playing the lottery for eight years and have always selected random numbers.
Cartier said he waited until he returned to work the following Monday to tell his colleagues about the jackpot.
"I didn't tell anyone, I was supposed to have Monday off so I went in casual clothes and I brought them all into the board room and said I was tired of playing the lottery and wanted to end things," Cartier said.
Cartier said that when his co-workers agreed, he told them "there is one more thing."
"And I handed out prize forms with the ticket attached to it and they were pretty excited," he said.
Most of the group say they are still "absorbing the shock" but plan to eventually spend their money on "experiential" things like travelling.
The group says that out of the 17 people who work for the company, there were five who chose not to participate in the lottery.
The 12 co-workers say they will continue to play the lottery.
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Thanks to ebrockerville for the tip.
I am surprised that none of the other players were even aware that they had won. Did they simply trust the colleague without even getting a printout of the tickets that he purchased on a regular basis for the pool?
the 5 who didn't participate aren't going to be that thrilled for the 12 that did even if they claim to. resentment and jealousy will set it and ruin this company. i would immediately discharge the 12 if i owned it and hire 12 poorer replacements as production from the 12 will diminish as they daydream at work all day about their fortune. lottery pools at work are just plain wrong.
Congrats to the lucky winners, hope all goes well.
Nice !!!!!! Congrats to the 12 who played. Is there tax on lottery winnings in Canada ? Payoff your bills and still have $4 Million plus in the bank. I am thinking that's close to retirement time if I was one of the 12.
I understand there is no tax on Canada's lottery...something, Heaven forbid, the big old tax hungry US of A would ever consider.
I wouldn't care what the non-players think. They had the opportunity to play and chose not to. Too bad, so sad. Bet they will play in the next pool. As for at work lottery pools, I ran the one for my team before I retired. What better group to play with than people you see 8-10 hours everyday?
Congratulations to the winners! :)
Congratulations on your win
The advertised jackpot in Canada is the true net amount and not a hyped up number that is touted here in the states. Not being subjected to getting ANY of the winnings taxed is the icing on the cake.
The $60 million these lucky winners won is comparable to collecting a cash payout on a $180 million PB or MM jackpot.
I text the tickets to the people in my group and I'm pretty sure they don't check them.
How nice of them to sit their twiddling their thumbs at work to make a pittance of what their net worth is while many people remain unemployed.
That's a treasure.....a co-worker you can trust. Personally, I prefer copies of the tickets before the drawing.
It's not just that the USA taxes lottery winnings that pisses me off, it's how they spend it. They use tax money to supply billions of dollars worth of military equipment to the Iraqi army. Some knucklehead from the Islamic State, gets liquored up on a fifth of Jack{he is not supposed to be consuming alcohol anyway}, stumbles into Iraq, points his AK towards the sky in celebration, fires a couple of shots and 30,000 well trained Iraqi soldiers panic and run away abandoning billions of dollars worth of equipment. That knucklehead calls his friends and said in his drunken stupor, LOOK whaaat I Faaoound. The Islamic State got all that equipment for FREE. This of course is anecdotal...it's not about Bush or Obama, just shows you how your taxes work for you. Don't spend the tax money on enemies that pretend to be friends. Lottery players can do a better job of spending that money if lotteries are not taxed. I won't hold my breath anyway.
It's a joy to see multiple people that get along win the lottery. Congrats to you all!!!.