What began as a quick trip to Walmart for burger buns ended in the biggest solo lottery win in Canadian history.
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FROM BURGER BUNS TO BILLIONS
Justin Simporios only had CAD12 (PHP480) left in his wallet when he walked into the Surrey Central Walmart on May 9, 2025.
He planned to buy burger buns and cheese for a simple dinner, but on a whim, he used his remaining cash, CAD12, on a Quick Pick Lotto Max ticket.
That spontaneous decision would change his life forever.
The 35-year-old health and safety officer from British Columbia is now the sole winner of a CAD80-million jackpot (PHP4.64 billion)—the largest lottery prize ever awarded to a single individual in Canada.
It also marks the biggest win in British Columbia’s history.
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For Simporios, who moved from the Philippines and has spent the last four years building a life in Canada, the win became his “generational wealth” moment.
“I'm an immigrant. I came from a poor country. This money is a lot, right?”
At a ceremony in Vancouver where he received the oversized check from BC Lotto, Simporios fought back tears.
“I've been struggling. I'm a father. I work full time. I have a daughter. I want to go home. I want to spend time with them.”
That moment struck a chord with many Filipino-Canadians, particularly working-class immigrants who carry the same weight every day.
“But as a father, you want to balance it out, right? Should I work or should I spend time with my daughter and not have food, right? Those kinds of stuff.”
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Justin Simporios' winning moment
Simporios’s win wasn’t part of some grand plan. It happened late at night, after his wife and daughter had gone to bed.
He used a flashlight to check the numbers: “16, 17, 30..."
As each digit aligned, disbelief turned to tears.
“When it hit five out of seven, I thought, ‘Hey, we might be millionaires.’”
Then it kept going—all the way to CAD80 million.
“So, I know the struggle for every Canadian around. With this amount of money, I'll be able to spend more time with my daughter, with my wife, with my family.”
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The next morning, he quit his job and began making a list—not of things to buy, but of people to uplift.
His top priorities included helping his mom retire, paying off his sister’s med-school debt, supporting his wife’s family, bringing his wife and daughter to the Philippines for the first time, and—if the stars align—watching LeBron James play live before the NBA legend retires.
“And, of course, living here in Surrey, and then I've been living here for over four years now, I could really see the struggle, right?”
Surrey, he said, is now his “lucky city.”
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But Simporios isn’t keeping it all to himself—he’s already thinking about giving back through charities and community work.
“Of course, this is so much money for us. I really want to give back to the community as much as I could,” he said.
“We already have set charities in our brains right now, but just writing it down, we're going to decide once we get to our financial advisor.
“For sure, I want to give back to the community that I'm living in.”
His tone remained grounded, with talks about quiet blessings and loving big.
He repeatedly emphasized one thing: This win wasn’t just his—it was for everyone who had walked a similar path, worked without breaks, and missed life’s moments just to make ends meet.
“Canada is home. This is a lot.”
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