Canadian Hospital Foundation Lotteries

By Nick Krewen 5/13/11 | www.samaritanmag.com

Princess Margaret Photo
They’ve won the houses of their dreams.

After purchasing tickets for the May 12th Princess Margaret Home Lottery, more than a dozen people are sporting ear-to-ear grins after winning a combined $9.094 million in real estate, including a $3.99 million, 7062 sq. ft show home in Thornhill, Ontario and a $654,000 cottage in the Kawartha Lakes.

And they’re not the only ones sporting the smiles: another 35,490 ticket winners have won everything from cars and cash to vacations and home theatre systems – among other prizes – in this year’s edition, which since 1996, has raised over $215 million towards medical research.

It’s the latter figure that is what it is all ultimately about: the proceeds going directly to a charity that works toward benefitting the health of all Canadians.

And, although they were the pioneers, Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation isn’t the only Canadian medical organization, or cause, that is taking this particular road to fundraising.

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia – along with other Ontario foundations – offer more than 30 lotteries featuring big-ticket items, all of the prizes free of taxes and other encumbrances.

And for tickets that cost as little as $40, to bundles that can go as high as $375, not only to you get a solid chance at making some of your material fantasies come true, but you provide a steady pipeline of income towards medical research, and hopefully eventual cures to such devastating diseases and maladies as cancer and strokes.

There are currently more than 35 mega lotteries held across Canada yearly, each one offering expensive prizes in order to help fund medical research and /or equipment.

Thanks to generous donors and sponsors, hospitals usually raise millions each year towards research or the purchase of specialized, expensive equipment, although there are a few lotteries – such as The PNE Prize Home Lottery and the Oil Barons Dream Home Lottery in Fort McMurray, which raises funds for the Junior A Fort McMurray Oil Barons hockey team – that are more about financing the bottom line.

Still, they’re all great causes and great fun. Here’s the list of charitable lotteries currently operating in Canada, excerpted from Home Lottery News at homelottery.ca:

Alberta:

 British Columbia:

Manitoba:

Nova Scotia:

Ontario:

Saskatchewan:

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* Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.