Gas prices down across Canada, likely to last a few weeks leading up to holidays

TORONTO — Drivers hoping for cheaper gas can fill up after the price at the pump across Canada fell to an average of 143 cents a liter on Thursday.

A senior director of public affairs at CAA National said the national gas price average has fallen about 30 cents since last month, but the price has not fallen as low as the 136.5 cent average recorded on Dec. 9, 2021.

Kristine D’Arbelles said gas prices are driven by a number of factors, including seasonality, geopolitical conflicts, supply and demand, and weather changes.

She said gas prices are expected to remain relatively low over the next few weeks, when they could pick up again just before Christmas due to higher demand.

“We’re actually going on vacation, so we might see a slight increase in demand, and when we see an increase in demand, we tend to see an increase in prices,” she said.

“If we see an increase, it will be in the next few weeks and it will be very small.”

D’Arbelles said drivers should take advantage of the price drop as prices could soon rise again.

“This kind of lull in gas prices will be short-lived. It might last a few weeks,” she said.

“Good time for gas, sure.”

Prices across Ontario are an average of 140 cents down from 142 on Wednesday and 173 a month ago, according to the CAA’s gas price tracker.

In Quebec, prices have dropped to 151 from about 154 the day before and 183 a month ago.

In Saskatchewan, prices are down slightly to 146 cents, while in Manitoba prices are down less than a cent to 152 cents.

British Columbia gas prices fell slightly Thursday to 158 cents from 160 cents a day earlier and 191 cents a month ago.

Alberta was the only province where CAA’s gas price tracker showed a rise in the price at the pump, as prices rose to 133 cents on Thursday from 132 cents on Wednesday.

The Alberta government recently introduced a temporary gasoline tax break by suspending provincial fuel tax collection on gasoline and diesel between January 1st and June 30th next year.

On October 1, the province announced it would reinstate a tax of 4.5 cents per liter, which is still a far cry from the usual 13 cents.

The Ontario government said it intends to introduce legislation that would leave the tax break, which cut gas prices by 5.7 cents a liter, through the end of 2023. The reduction first went into effect on July 1 and was originally scheduled to take effect on March 23.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on December 8, 2022.

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press