Ontario Coffee Drinkers at Tim Horton's Get Burned in Car Contest

A typical Tim Hortons in Canada

Last week in the Toronto Star there was an article on Tim Horton's and the disproportionate chances of winning a car in their "roll up to win" contest. It seems that Ontario has a lesser chance of winning the grand prize -- a $32,000 silver Toyota Venza -- than other provinces in Canada. According to Tim Horton's web site, almost 281.7 million cups are distributed for sale in the popular springtime contest, which also runs in 11 American states. Some 35 cups are also issued across Canada that, when unrolled, will get the purchaser one of the cars, But they are not distributed equally among the provinces.

While 52 per cent of the roll up to win cups are sold in Ontario, only 15 of the 35 car-winning cups (about 43 per cent) are actually sold there. If the cars were awarded according to overall cup sales, Ontario would get a total of 18 cars, three more than it is presently receiving.

Where do the three cars go? According to the web site, the regions of Quebec, Atlantic Canada and British Columbia each receive one extra car-winning cup more than they should receive if calculated on overall cup sales.

The overall chances of winning a Toyota Venza are about one in eight million, according to the Tim Horton's web site. But according to the Toronto Star's tally, coffee drinkers in B.C. have the best odds of winning a car (one in 5.9 million), while Ontarians receive the worst odds (one in 9.9 million).

It should be noted however that in the case of the consolation prizes (which includes a free coffee, doughnuts, 100 cash prizes of $10,000 and numerous laptop computers) Ontarians have an equal chance of winning a prize when compared to other provinces.