Lottery sales to be temporarily unavailable as BCLC launches new system, terminals

The BC Lottery Corporation says lottery sales and ticket validation will be temporarily unavailable starting today, May 23, as it launches a new system across the province.

BCLC spokesperson Shelley Wong says there will be some disruptions ahead of the planned launch on Sunday, May 26, telling Radio NL the new system will improve a player’s overall experience.

“Players will experience a temporary shutdown of the entire lottery sales system. This means that players will be unable to purchase or validate any lottery product online and in retail locations,” Wong said, on the NL Noon Report.

“This is part of a planned outage. Our terminals were nearing end of life and while they have served the needs for many years, the replacement is needed to sustain and modernize our lottery business in the province.”

Wong says there will also be new lottery self-serve terminals in bars and restaurants across the province, where people will be able to pay by card.

“Once they are activated players can look forward to faster touch responsive screens and like a quick tap for mobile payment,” Wong said.

“And in terms of in store experience, it might feel pretty similar but it will be like new terminals and we’re hoping for a faster, purchasing experience once we have everything up and running.”

Wong says while the majority of the new terminals will be activated this Sunday, it may take a few days for all of the terminals across B.C. to be up and running.

She says its because technicians will need to visit all of the roughly 3,400 lottery retailers in the province to ensure the new system is working as intended.

“Retailers would have these new terminals and equipment and they would plug it in and we would have people on the ground assisting them through the process in terms of making sure everything gets up and running,” Wong said.

“We’re hoping it doesn’t take too long to finish activation of the system so once the new lottery system is fully activated, we intend to sell tickets right away.”

The planned lottery outage schedule is below:

Starting Thursday May 23, lottery sales and ticket validation will be unavailable. Sales will resume once the upgrade is complete after Monday, May 27th*.

• Daily Grand: Thursday, May 23 7:30 pm
• Lotto Max: Friday, May 24 7:30 pm
• Lotto 6/49 and BC/49: Saturday, May 25 7:30 pm
• BC 50/50: Saturday, May 25 9:00 pm
• Pacific Hold’Em Poker: Saturday, May 25 11:30 pm
• Keno: Saturday, May 25 11:40 pm
• Instant tickets: Saturday May 25 11:49 pm

These products will be permanently retiring on May 25. Winning tickets can be redeemed up until their expiry date once the upgrade is complete after Monday, May 27th*.

• Sports Action: Saturday, May 25 4:00 pm
• Poker Lotto: Saturday, May 25 11:00 pm

*Local retailers will be able to sell and validate tickets once the upgrade is complete after Monday, May 27th, however times may vary.

For more information about the planned changes, go here.