Manitoba man wins $40M Lotto Max jackpot with ticket purchased in Alberta

WATCH: Manitoba lotto winner speaks Matthew Tannas is introduced after winning $40 million on a recent Lotto Max Draw

A Manitoba man has won one of the top five largest lottery jackpots in Manitoba history.

Matthew Tannas of Hamiota, located 280 kilometres west of Winnipeg, won $40 million on the Lotto Max draw on Dec. 3. His ticket was among two winning tickets in the $80M jackpot, with the other ticket sold in Quebec.

Tannas’ ticket is the fourth-highest lottery prize won in Manitoba.

He purchased the ticket in Alberta, where was working as a big game guide, on the Lotto Spot app after seeing a post showing the $80 million jackpot. The winning numbers were 9, 14, 21, 26, 29, 32, and 41.

“I bought one out there, and I didn’t think anything about it until I was driving home,” Tannas, a firefighter/paramedic, said on Thursday.

He said he passed a gas station on his way home and saw that there were winning numbers, so he checked his app and was surprised to see he won $40 million.

“I didn't believe it at the time, so I drove to my brother's house and had him confirm with me that I wasn't making stuff up,” he said. “I'm a pretty calm person. So it wasn't, it wasn't anything exciting.”

He showed the app to his wife at her workplace and recorded her reaction.

“Initially she thought that it was $40,000 so she was over the moon excited, until she just started counting the zeros,” Tannas said. “And then, there might have been a little bit of tears and some hugging and stuff like that.”

As for what he plans to do with his money, Tannas said it includes helping pay for education for his children and buying them new vehicles.

“We're going to be looking for some reliable vehicles for our kids just to make sure that they're safe,” he said.

Tannas also said he would buy a new truck and travel to Nova Scotia to visit his sister with his winnings, and joked about his new found fortune affecting his community.

“We’re probably going to get an influx of people moving to Hamiota,” he said.