CALGARY — Gasoline prices are coming down in Canada as the consumer carbon charge drops to zilch from 17.6 cents per litre, but motorists had yet to feel the full impact of the change on Tuesday.
"The pace is going to vary province to province, city to city, station to station," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at price tracking website GasBuddy.com.
"There are some complexities behind the scene that may cause some stations to have to wait to pass it along."
For instance, some retailers may still need to reprogram their software to account for the decrease.
"I would expect that most stations would have the price adjusted today and at latest tomorrow," said De Haan.
GasBuddy had the national average for a litre of regular unleaded gasoline at $1.49 per litre, a drop of six cents, around late afternoon ET. But De Haan said that data tends to lag what stations are actually posting as price reports from volunteers come in. The GasBuddy system may also need time to validate such a big drop.
De Haan is expecting relief in the order of 15 cents a litre at the pumps, accounting for other factors that affect the price.
"Gas prices move for many different reasons all at the same time," he said, pointing to spring refinery maintenance and increased demand as the weather warms.
A refinery fire in northern California in February has pinched the market all along the west coasts of Canada and the U.S., said De Haan.
"Unfortunately there are some abnormal circumstances happening there preventing this 17.6 cent rollback from being visible" in B.C., he said.
De Haan is expecting the cost of diesel to come down by more than 20 cents a litre, which should have positive ripple effects on the overall economy as it lowers costs for truck drivers, farmers and other users of that fuel.
One of Prime Minister Mark Carney's first actions when he took office last month was to do away with the consumer carbon charge, which had previously been set at $80 per tonne — an amount that has increased yearly since it was first imposed in 2019.
For natural gas, homeowners may still see charges appear on upcoming bills for fuel used before Tuesday.
The final Canada Carbon Rebate is to be paid starting April 22 for those who file their 2024 tax returns before Wednesday. For those filing after that date, the rebate will be sent after their returns are assessed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2025.
Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press
