Maple Ridge man $1 million light bulb errand has become Canada’s favourite lottery story this month after Mehrdad P. checked his ticket while out to buy a light bulb — and discovered a $1-million Maxmillions prize. The Maple Ridge man $1 million win, reported by BCLC and 604 Now, came in the Lotto Max draw on 9 October 2026.
According to 604 Now, Mehrdad was on his way to pick up a light bulb when his route took him near a gas station. He decided to stop in, where he checked his lottery tickets with a self-scanner. It was there that he learnt he had just won $1 million. Immediately, he left and went back home to share the news with his wife.
You are acting weird
“She said, ‘you are acting weird’ and I told her, ‘I am weird’,” Mehrdad said. “I told her I won $100,000, but later we checked on the [BCLC] Lotto! App and saw it was one million!” The playful understatement — telling his wife $100,000 first — became the detail readers quoted most.
With the windfall, Mehrdad plans to take his family on a “dream holiday,” but he is also taking his time to consider his options. “I’m super excited. I can’t describe it,” he said. The winning ticket was bought at the Smart Shop in an Esso station on Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue in Burnaby, according to BCLC reporting republished by 604 Now and other outlets.
An ordinary errand, an extraordinary scanner beep
Lottery wins often come with elaborate rituals: lucky numbers, decades of play, a special store. Mehrdad’s story is the opposite — an errand so ordinary it barely counts as a trip out. A light bulb, a gas station scanner, a beep that changed everything.
That ordinariness is why the story travelled. Anyone who has stopped for a small errand can imagine the moment the scanner shows a number far larger than expected — and the drive home, trying to act normal, while carrying news too big to say out loud all at once.
Related reading: Seaford Woman Wins $1 Million on First Weekday Windfall Ticket
