# Gas prices in Canada GRRRRRR! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191 "2003-05-05T15:11:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/1 "2003-05-05T15:11:58Z")
How come I have read that gas prices have fallen dramatically in the states, and they have not changed in Canada? Prices just dropped 6 US cents a gallon, that’s around 24 US cents a liter! MtM ---
**Author:** ![andy\_fl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@andy\_fl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andy_fl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/2 "2003-05-05T15:14:15Z")
6 US Cents per Gallon is around 1.56 US Cents per liter ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/3 "2003-05-05T15:18:11Z")
Okay so I’m an idiot! Lets see if I can talk my way out if this one… Gas prices have been static in my home town (79.9 per liter) for the last 2 months. I’ve read on CNN at least 3 times in that same time frame that gas prices in the states have fallen. Were they way higher to start with than they were in Canada? MtM ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/4 "2003-05-05T15:47:03Z")
My guess , since the oil we get is sold on a geographic basis , so what the north eastern United States pays , is the same as Ontario. Like hollywood, there is no Canadian market for gasoline. Back to what I was saying, my guess is that the oil companies are padding the books for as long as possible before the price we pay goes down to 50 c a liter. Declan ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/5 "2003-05-05T16:21:22Z")
HA HA, sorry McDeath\_the\_Mad but gas in Toronto was 49.9 cents/L over the weekend and now sit around 59.9 cents/L. From my experience Ontario and Quebec seems to charge 10cents less than BC and the Atlantic provinces (I assume its free in Alberta). But the real answer to your question is that Canada has to buy gas from the world market in US dollars. So our prices won’t change the same way theirs would. And didn’t BC just add a new gas tax? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/6 "2003-05-05T16:31:51Z")
In my part of the US, prices have fallen about 16 cents/gal over the past 4 weeks. Declan - if oil companies in Canada are “padding the books” to keep prices artificially high, why not the same here? ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/7 "2003-05-05T16:38:51Z")
> [@](#): > > (I assume its free in Alberta) Heh. I wish! Where I live, it is still 74.9, only 7 cents less the all-time high of 81.9 about when the war started. When oil was $40 bbl a year or two ago, it only got as high as 73.9. And its always the same old argument from the oil companies, it takes time for the lower prices to work its way through the system, although it will go up within days of the price of crude increasing but months to come down. ---
**Author:** ![Daizy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@Daizy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daizy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/8 "2003-05-05T16:57:17Z")
> [@](#): > > (I assume its free in Alberta). You’d think so, wouldn’t you?! 😃 Gas here today is around [62 or 63 cents.](http://www.edmontongasprices.com/index.asp?area=North+Side&Station=All+Stations&tme_limit=60) According to the site I just linked to: Edmonton today is 63.10 A year ago 65.07 Compared to Canada’s average of 67.09 today And 68.78 a year ago. What does that work out to in US funds? Daizy ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/9 "2003-05-05T18:01:52Z")
It’s 59.9 today in Toronto. Filled up yesterday at 49.9 and paid $23 for a fill on premium! I normally pay $33/34 ish for the same (36-ish Litres). Man, I wish gas was always this price 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/10 "2003-05-05T20:12:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by emacknight \* > \*\*But the real answer to your question is that Canada has to buy gas from the world market in US dollars. So our prices won’t change the same way theirs would. > \*\* Nope. Canada is one of the top oil suppliers to the US, so we don’t really have to buy it from ourselves in greenbacks. And even if we did, recent increases in the Loonie v. the Greenback would cause the price to drop more in Canada than the States. It’s because Canadian Gas companies are quick to up prices at the pumps when the price of crude jumps, and they slowly bring it down to maintain cash flow levels. ---
**Author:** ![Strewth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Strewth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strewth)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/11 "2003-05-06T07:56:00Z")
Come to Australia & at my local servo it’s about 84.9c a litre. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/12 "2003-05-06T12:44:36Z")
_Ron Brenneman, Chief Executive Officer, Petro-Canada, Annual General Meeting, April 29, 2003_\*\* > [@](#): > > For Petro-Canada, 2002 was a remarkable, record-setting year, and you might expect us to be breaking out the champagne today.\*\* _Ron Brenneman, Chief Executive Officer, Petro-Canada, Annual General Meeting, April 29, 2003_\*\* > [@](#): > > Large corporations today are facing a global discount due to mistrust. We have struggled for some years now against a general perception of faceless, soul-less multi-nationals, but recent cases of outright fraud have shaken trust in the corporate world more fundamentally. Because of the Enron fiasco, the entire energy industry has been tarred – I like to think unjustly – with a very black brush.\*\* And 31,499,560 tiny violins play in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/13 "2003-05-06T15:45:40Z")
For the record, it was 69.9 when I **walked** past my usual gas station this morning (in Montreal). I will tell you that if everyone walked or used public transportation one day a week, you would see the prices fall toot sweet. It has been as high as 87.9 in the past few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/14 "2003-05-06T16:01:28Z")
I topped off the tank on the way to the airport in Calgary yesterday and paid 63.07 / L. In Dallas, the station near me is down to 1.38 / gal. It was at least 1.59/ gal a few weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/15 "2003-05-06T17:01:45Z")
Hey, stop whinging - here in the UK it’s about 85p a litre. That’s almost two Canadian dollars (C$1.93 currently). Most expensive in the world, or very nearly so… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gas-prices-in-canada-grrrrrr/173191/16 "2003-05-06T17:04:25Z")
Or, just so you US folks can realise how lucky you are, about US$5.13 a gallon.