By Maan Alhmidi in Toronto
Files from Barrie 360
Drivers hoping for cheaper gas can fill up after the price at the pump across Canada dropped on Thursday to an average 143 cents per litre.
A senior director of public affairs at CAA National said the national gas price average has dropped by about 30 cents since last month but the price has not fallen as low as the 136.5 cents average that was 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 in the next couple of weeks, when they may go up again due to higher demand closer to Christmas.
"We're actually heading into the holidays, so we might see a slight increase in demand and if we see an increase in demand, we tend to see an increase in prices," she said.
"If we do see an increase, it'll be in the next couple of weeks and it will be very small."
D’Arbelles said drivers should take advantage of the drop in prices as they might see prices go up again soon.
"This sort of lull in gas prices is going to be short-lived. It's going to be around for maybe a couple of weeks," she said.
"Good time to fill up, for sure."
According to the CAA’s gas price tracker, prices across Ontario are averaging around 140 cents down from 142 on Wednesday and 173 a month ago.
Dan McTeague of Canadians for Affordable Energy tweeted that after falling two cents on Thursday, gas prices will fall another three cents on Friday across all of southern Ontario to $135.9 cents.
In Quebec, prices are down to 151 from about 154 a day before and 183 a month ago.
In Saskatchewan, prices are down slightly to 146 cents, while Manitoba’s prices saw just less than a one-cent drop to 152 cents.
Gas prices in British Columbia dropped slightly to 158 cents on Thursday from 160 cents a day before and 191 a month ago.
Alberta was the only province where CAA’s gas price tracker shows an increase in the price at the pump as prices went up to 133 cents on Thursday from 132 cents on Wednesday.
The Alberta government recently introduced temporary gas tax relief by suspending the collection of the provincial fuel tax on gasoline and diesel between Jan. 1 and June 30 of next year.
On Oct. 1, the province said it would reintroduce a tax of 4.5 cents per litre, still a far cry from the usual 13 cents.
The Ontario government said it intends to table legislation that would leave the tax break that cut gas prices by 5.7 cents a litre in place until the end of 2023. The cut first went into effect on July 1 and was originally due to expire on Dec. 31.
Banner image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.
