Heart of BC lottery returns with proceeds supporting regional health programs

A previous Heart of BC 50/50 winner celebrates with family members and KGH Foundation representatives. The regional lottery returned July 3, with its next draw scheduled for Sept. 11.

Photo: KGH Foundation

PROVINCIAL — A regional 50/50 lottery has returned for the summer, with the KGH Foundation saying money raised will support preventive health programs in the communities where tickets are purchased.

The Heart of BC 50/50 Lottery opened July 3 and had surpassed $200,000 by the time the foundation announced its summer campaign on Aug. 3. The winner will receive half of the final ticket sales, up to a maximum prize of $500,000.

Ticket sales continue until Sept. 4. The draw is scheduled for Sept. 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation office on Pandosy Street in Kelowna.

The lottery is organized by the KGH Foundation in partnership with the YMCA of Southern Interior BC and hospital and health foundations throughout the Interior Health region.

The KGH Foundation says participating foundations help ensure proceeds remain in the communities where tickets are bought. That means purchases made in different parts of the Interior are intended to support health programs and services in those regions rather than being directed solely to Kelowna.

The summer announcement did not name a specific Boundary or West Kootenay project that will receive money from the current campaign.

The lottery focuses on what organizers describe as upstream health initiatives: programs intended to promote health, prevent illness or provide support before people require hospital or urgent care.

Previously supported work includes YMCA programs, Sport for Life physical-literacy initiatives and the expansion of Foundry youth mental-health services into West Kelowna.

Foundry Kelowna now provides services in West Kelowna on Mondays and Fridays through the Child and Youth Mental Health office on Main Street. Services include brief counselling and youth and family navigation. Foundry services are free and confidential for young people between 12 and 24 and their families.

Proceeds have also been used for hospital equipment. According to the KGH Foundation, the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation used money generated through ticket purchases in its region to acquire a tympanometer for the hospital’s audiology department.

The device is used to test how the middle ear is functioning and can assist in identifying hearing loss. The KGH Foundation said the equipment is used to assess six to eight patients per day.

“One ticket creates both an opportunity and a guarantee,” KGH Foundation vice-president of philanthropy Chandel Schmidt said in the announcement.

Schmidt said purchasers receive a chance to win while helping fund programs intended to improve health and reduce pressure on the health-care system.

The latest campaign follows the lottery’s largest draw so far. Ticket sales for the March 2026 campaign reached $685,385, with Kelowna resident Ronald Dunlop receiving the winning half of $342,692.50.

The September 2025 winner received $329,022.50, while the first Heart of BC draw in March 2025 awarded $180,555. The three previous winners received a combined total of more than $850,000.

Ticket packages for the summer draw are priced at $10 for five tickets, $25 for 25, $50 for 100 or $100 for 500.

Purchasers must be at least 19 years old and physically located in British Columbia when the transaction takes place. A person does not have to be a B.C. resident, but a non-resident may buy tickets only while physically in the province.

Lottery ticket purchases are not eligible for charitable tax receipts. The winning prize is tax-free in Canada and must be claimed within 12 months of the draw.

The winner may be contacted by email, telephone or mail. The official rules say the winner’s name and ticket number will be available on the Heart of BC website within five business days after the draw.