When the convenience store cashier went to the back room to check on the ticket, a Calgary business owner and father of two followed him with some concern.

Lottery winner Mitchel Dyck said when the cashier at his local convenience store scanned his Lotto Max winning ticket, he thought he’d only won $70,000.

“I handed it to the cashier who scanned it. I thought we won $70,000!” he recalled.

“We tried to count the zeroes, but the numbers flew by quickly.”

Still, even that small amount was enough to ensure that when the employee went to the store’s back room to confirm the prize amount, Dyck wasn’t going to let the ticket out of his sight.

“I followed the cashier to the back room – he was calling the prize office to verify my win, and I wasn’t going to let that ticket out of my sight!”

The call confirmed that the amount was actually $70 million.

The ticket was worth one thousand times more than they originally thought.

“It was definitely nerve-wracking to have [the ticket] overnight,” he laughed. “We went the next day and got a safety deposit box for it.”

Alberta’s newest multi-millionaire said he had regularly bought lottery tickets whenever he filled up his landscaping business truck, often several times a week.

Mitchel told the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) at the presentation that he doesn’t usually play the lottery.

However, if a cashier asks if he wants a lottery ticket, he doesn’t hesitate to buy one. So he buys quite often!

Towards the end of October, he bought a Lotto Max ticket on a whim, and it was just three weeks later that he cashed in the ticket.

The $70 million amount came as a surprise and Dyck says he is still recovering from the shock win.

“It was very surreal. It took us a long time to even figure out how much it was,” Dyck said after being presented with his oversized check yesterday.

“You immediately start thinking about how you can help your family.”

After the win, he had several stressful weeks over how to keep the ticket secure.

He first locked his winning ticket in a safe-deposit box before confirming his win with Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC).

“We drove (to St. Albert), it wasn’t exactly according to the speed limit,” he said.

“It’s an enormous amount of money . . . I’m sure it’ll change the way we go about things but I don’t want it to change us.”

When he was asked what he will do with the money, Dyck said he has always wanted a fancy vehicle or a fancy home, but he didn’t have any flashy purchases in mind.

He said they plan to be smart about how they handle the life-changing windfall.

Dyck said his family will take a holiday over Christmas and he will take more days off than he normally does.

But he said that he wanted to ensure his family is taken care of and that his two children get a good education.

“That’s still our goal, is to make sure that our kids get an education. Carry on and be honest citizens,” said Dyck.

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis vice-president of gaming Dan Keene said the win is the largest Lotto Max jackpot in Alberta and ties a Canadian record.

In April 2022 Regina man Dale McEwen came forward as the winner of Alberta’s largest-ever matching lottery prize - another $70-million Lotto Max jackpot.

“This isn’t just a win for one individual. This is a win for all of Alberta,” said Keene as he introduced Dyck at the check presentation.

“Lottery proceeds in the province go to the general revenue fund, which benefits programs and services that we rely on every day.”