New Home for Ontario Couple After Lottery Win

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by HAVEN HOME HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING

Feb 23, 2026  •  Last updated Feb 23, 2026  • 

Kinsmen Club member and barrel spinner Beth Tozer, Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery chair Graham Forsythe and Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson draw the winning ticket on the 35th Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery at Slush Puppie Place in Kingston on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. Francine Bedard of Kapuskasing, Ontario, won the $1.644 million home. Photo by Bill Hall /The Whig-Standard

An Ontario couple is excited to realize their dream of relocating to Kingston after winning through the local Kinsmen Club’s annual lottery.

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The winners of this year’s Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery were announced at Slush Puppie Place on Friday. The grand prize went to Francine and Mitch Bedard from Kapuskasing.

<p Francine’s name was drawn live during the event, granting her ownership of a stunning home valued at $1.644 million.

The couple could hardly believe their ears when they received a call shortly after being informed they had won by Kingston’s Kinsmen club treasurer Sean Allen.Sean Allen of the Kinsmen Club of Kingston emcees a livestream of th year s Kinsme Dream Home Lottery at Slush Puppie Place in Kingston on Friday , Feb.20 ,2026. Photo by Bill Hall /The Whig -Standard

After some deep breaths along with quite a few “oh my gods,” Francine and Mitch expressed their excitement about finally making Kingston their new home during a phone interview.

“We’ve been dreaming of this moment for so long,” Francine Bedard said.“We’ve wanted to move to Kingston for years.”

The Bedards mentioned how they buy a Dream Home ticket every year with hopes of living closer to their sons , Donald who resides in Ottawa , and Remi along with his wife Jessica who are already living in Kingston.

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The Bedards’ son Remi attendedschoolin Kingstonandhasbeenworkingat Kingston General Hospitalas respiratorytherapistforthelast20years.

Eachyear, the Bedardsbuytheir tickets onlinewithoutfail, and thisyearthey decidedtotakeatripto Limestone Citytoviewtheproperty.

“We came tothe areaaround Christmas timejusttotakealookatthehouse,” shesaid.“Welookedateverycupboard, everyappliance. Weimaginedlivinginthat house, sure.”

Theyarenow moving quicklyontakingpossessionoftheirnewhome-especiallysince they have bookedanaftertripto Dominican Republicstarting March10.

Mitch Bedardsaid,“Wegottheballrollingquicklybecauseunfortunatelywecan’tpostponeor cancelthetrip. There’snochanceofarefund.” Thishasnotloadedyetbutyourarticlecontinuesbelow.Theirarrivalin Kingstonis setfor Tuesday. Aftermeetingwith Allenon Wednesday, totheytoreviewthehouseonce morebeforefinalizingpaperson March3. They’ll be stayingwiththeirson Remiandhopefultohave legalpossessionofthehome beforeleaving forthe trip. Movingclosertotheir familyin Kingstonis very important tothem, andtheyclearly statedit would havebeenimpossiblewithoutwinningthishome. Accordingto Mitch Bedard,, propertyvaluesin Kinstonarealmosttwicethosein Kapuskasing. “Anything we lookedatinkingsotover theyearswasworthabout$900000-nearlyamilliondollars,” hesaid.“Wewouldhavehadtotakeout amortgageandwe didn’twantthat. W’vebeendebt-freeforyearsnow.” Thishasnotloadedyet, butyourarticlecontinuessbelow.Both Remiand Jessica were equally thrilled about thenews. “Iusuallywatchthelivedrawbutwewereoutbusywithourdaughterwhenmyphone startedblowingup,”Jessica Bedardsaid duringa phonecallon Saturday. “Icalled themrightaway,”shesaid.“They weren’t evenaware-they hadn’thereedthegoodnewsyet.” Jessicaworksfor Ontario’s Ministryof Transportationandgrewupin Kingston. “I’vegotlots offamilyhere, butnot Remi’sfamily-hisbrotherisin Ottawa buthis parentsaren’t closeby atall. It’stwelvehoursaway,” shesaid.”It’sgreatthat hisparentswillbenearnow too. The GPS saysit’ll only betwelve minutes away.” Thishasnotloadedyet butyourarticlecontinuesbelow.She also pointed out that having such distance has been increasingly concerning asherparents getolder. “What will wedo when theyneed usandthey’re12hoursaway? Rightnow, theycannot drive two hours justtogetadoctor.” she added,”This is so muchbetter inmanyways.” “Everyticketwassold. That’s17.500ticketsinthistank,”lotterychair Graham Forsythementionedduringthedrawnight. Thatwas animpressive featconsidering thatonly70%oftheticketsweresoldoneweekbeforethe event. “Althoughsomeofticketbuyerscomefromoutsideoftownabout85%ofticketsare soldlocallyby Kingstonians”, Forsytheclarified.”No matterwho buys, tickets100%ofproceeds staywithinourcommunity.” 7

Thishasnotloaded yet butyour article continues below.Accordingto Forsythe, the charitiesmost in needthese days dealwithfood insecurity. Kinsmen Club Treasurer Sean Allenagreed. “Organizationslike St. Vincente Paul, Martha’s Table, and Partnersin Mission Food Bank willbenefit greatlyfromthemoneys raisedthrough Kinsmen Dream Home Lottery,”Allenadded. Feed Ontario reported last year’s hunger report showedthat moreresidents relyonfoodbanks thaneverbefore. In Kingstonsince Partnersin Mission Food Bankhelped over9400individualsincluding2800children. Friday night winnersincluded: $5.000 furniture package – Mike Nourry, ticket0770;$5.000 furniture package – Catherine Murphy-Mc Allister, ticket14056;$5.000 furniture package – William Baker, ticket17447;$5.000 furniture package – Joshua Dickson, ticket16886;$5.000 furniturepackage-Danuta&Waldemar Pawlak, ticket01089;$5.000 furniture package-Marvin Gonzales, ticket10458;$5. O00furniturepackage-Mark&Deb Millan, ticket13920;$5, O00cashprize-Brad&Deb Rose, TICKET03559 ;$5000 cashprize-Michael Sewell. ticket00830;.$5000 cashprize-Sothea Yeatman. ticket06501;.$5000Cash Prize-Walter Saccon&Pina Hunter. ticket10293 ;$10000Cash Prize-Anatolii Senchenko. ticket15205; $5000 vacation-Kevin Reynolds. TICKET03393 ; $5000 vacation-Mark Pelley. TICKET11750 ;$5000 vacation-Jadwiga Sobiesiak. TICKET14105 ;$5000 vacation-Honesty Heyink. TICKET09753 ; $10. O00vaction-Linda Ryan. TICKET06137 ;$60000Ford Mustang-Sandra Mc Gregor. ticket04767 ;&1,.644Ooo. KINSMDREAMHOME-francinebedard. tickets00639.

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