Prices are up from last month but still below year-ago levels.
By Richard Russell
As spring creeps gradually into our lives, gas prices are creeping upward as well! No surprise given that fuel specs change in the spring (lower volatility to reduce evapouration in warmer temperatures), refining capacity in Canada has been reduced, global oil prices are on the rise – and there's a big holiday weekend not that far away.
They've been on a steady increase since mid-February, however, and the pace of that price rise ticked up in April. Prices across the country are significantly higher nw than they were a month ago – 101.9 cents per litre on average for self-serve regular, compared to 93.1 in March. Still, they're a bit below their 104.5 cents/litre level from a year ago.
Using data from GasBuddy.com let’s look at prices by province from coast to coast, going from highest to lowest. It should be noted that within some cities and provinces prices can vary greatly from one location to another.
Average gasoline prices in Quebec are the highest in the country (not including the Territories), partially due to a consumption tax in effect there. Prices across the province have been on the rise, up more than 14 cents a litre in the past month alone. Across the province it pays to shop around, as there is a spread of at least 10 cents between the least and most expensive spots in many locations. The capital city is among the least expensive sources at 108.2 cents per litre while in Montreal it is 115.6. Surprisingly, up north in Val d'Or, the price is just 96.9 cents/litre.
Housing isn’t the only thing that is expensive on the left coast. It costs more at the pump than anywhere else in the country outside Quebec and the Territories. Fuel prices have risen just 2.3 cents a litre in the last month, however; less than in most other provinces. Among the most expensive places in the province to fill ‘er up is Vancouver where it's 114.5 cents per litre. Over on the island it is nearly 9 cents a litre less in Victoria, at 105.6 and up north in Prince George it will cost you just 98.8 cents/litre.
There are plenty of natural resources in and beneath the oceans off Canada’s newest and most recent “have” province, including oil. But unlike out west, where proximity to the stuff helps keep prices down at the pump, gasoline remains plenty costly on “the rock.” Prices have risen more than 15 cents a litre in the last month alone, but remain below the 112.0 cents/litre level of a year ago. The average price is just 98.1 in St. John’s but it's 104.8 over in Corner Brook.
The most populace province has not escaped the general increase in fuel prices, despite having so much of the country’s refining capacity. Ontario is the fourth most expensive place in the country to buy gasoline. Prices have risen more than 10 cents per litre in the last month and are approaching those charged last year at this time. Regardless of where you look for gasoline in this province, it pays to shop around as there is quite a price spread. The Toronto average is above the average at 102.4 and rising, while in Ottawa from 100.2, in London just 94.3 and in Thunder Bay 104.0 cents/litre.
Gasoline prices are regulated/set by the provincial government in Nova Scotia weekly. To allow for variations in delivery costs, different prices are set in each of six geographic zones. The price has risen an average of 10.4 cents per litre in the last month and is 10.7 cents a litre below last year’s price at this time. In Halifax, gas currently costs 98.2 cents per litre; it is 99.2 in Yarmouth on the southern tip of the province and 101.4 in Port Hawkesbury as you enter Cape Breton at the other end.
There's not much variation in prices across PEI although the average is up 5.4% in the last month. At the seat of confederation, gasoline will set you back 97.2 cents per litre in the capital city of Charlottetown and 98.6 in Summerside, less than an hour away in the country’s smallest province.
The giant Irving refinery in Saint John is the largest and most up-to-date in the country. It supplies the vast majority of fuel consumed in Quebec, the four Atlantic Provinces and much of New England. Perhaps this is the reason gasoline costs less in New Brunswick than elsewhere in the region – 96.1 cents per litre in Saint John on the Atlantic Ocean and 93.9 up north in Edmundston, near the St Lawrence River. In between, in the capital city of Fredericton, it costs slightly less at 93.8 cents per litre.
They may produce a lot of Canada's oil there and Alberta may traditionally have offered the lowest-priced gasoline in the country, but not anymore. Gasoline is now less expensive in the neighbouring Prairie Provinces. Prices have risen just more than two cents in the last month but they are now higher than they were a year ago – the only province where that is the case. Regular costs 90.6 cent/litre in Edmonton but it's 95.0 in Calgary and 99.0 in the heart of oil country, Fort McMurray.
Saskatchewan remains one of the least expensive places in the country to buy gasoline. Prices have risen only about 4 cents per litre in the last month, which is among the smallest hikes, and the provincial average price is still more 10 cents per litre below the national average. Prices in Regina average 90.9 cents/litre, while they are 92.6 in Saskaton – but they're just 86.5 cents/litre in Mose Jaw.
The least expensive place in this vast country to buy gasoline lies halfway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They don’t mine or refine oil in Manitoba, but in addition to having the lowest gasoline prices in the country, they have remained more consistent there than anywhere else. The current price is actually lower than last year (88.4 compared to 89.5 cents/litre). But this is a big chunk of land and prices show the cost of transportation as you head north. Gasoline currently costs 87.8 cents per litre in Winnipeg, but jumps to 93.9 in The Pas and 95.3 in Thompson.
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