About the Author

author photo

Preet Banerjee, B.Sc., FMA, DMS is a former stockbroker and financial advisor in Toronto. Information on this site is for entertainment purposes ONLY. Always seek individual professional advice before making any financial decisions.

See All Posts by This Author

Gas Prices in Canada versus the USA

                                                         
feature photo

The average gas price in Canada has dropped from about $1.40/Litre to just around $1.00/Litre. In fact, it is predicted that gas prices in Toronto will be around 85 cents by the time you read this (assuming you read it on November 4th!). Below is a chart which shows the gas price history for the last five years – note that it also includes the average price of gas in the United States adjusted to our more familiar cost per litre, and further adjusted for currency. (In other words, you can see what the average American is paying for fuel in Canadian dollars per litre.)

What you’ll see is that Americans (on average) are paying about 63 cents per litre right now, which is about 25% less than what we are currently paying. One major factor is the amount of tax collected at the pump level. Canadians pay about 33% in combined taxes on average on the price of fuel, and Americans pay about 11%.

Breakdown of Fuel Taxes in Canada

Breakdown of Fuel Taxes in United States

(You can click on the graph below to enlarge it)

Popularity: 10% [?]

Credit Repair - option trading

<--Please click on the green Retweet button if you like this article and want to share it on Twitter!


You might like these Related Articles:
The Social World versus The Financial World
When Interest Rates Go Up Bond Prices Fall
Flow Throughs versus Super Flow Throughs, Shares versus Limited Partnerships
$100 Oil + The Higher Loonie = Gas prices still cheaper in the U.S.?
Porsche Canada drops prices by 10%+ for 2008
Join over 1,000 readers who receive daily updates by supplying your e-mail address:
 

You may also subscribe to the WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com RSS feed:

There Are 6 Responses So Far. »

  1. I wish our prices in Vancouver would drop that low, we seem to behind. Check out this handy gas price map for the country:

    http://www.vancouvergasprices.com/Price_By_County.aspx?state=BC&c=can

  2. It is somehow comforting to see gas prices in Canada and the US moving in lock step. If there were any differences other than the fairly constant higher taxes in Canada, I might have to invent some conspiracy theories to explain those differences.

  3. Informative graph. An interesting corollary is that the percentage change is lower in high-tax countries. Apparently Europeans were relatively insulated from “petrol” increases, since their prices are largely determined by taxes, not the price of the underlying oil.

    Reminds me that a company with high costs can have better percentage increases in earnings when the underlying commodity price increases. However, those same companies are more likely to go bankrupt in a downturn. The example I have in my head is the now defunct Royal Oak Mines.

  4. [...] Does All My Money Go had an interesting post on gasoline prices in Canada vs US.  We definitely pay a lot more than our American friends for gas which doesn’t explain [...]

  5. Interesting site Preet,
    However,despite the cited reason (higher taxes in Canada)why is it that taking to-days average gas price in the US of $1.87 US Gal. and converting it to litres (3.785 L/US gal) x 122% (cdn. dollar) x 22% (higher cdn tax) = .735 Litre, whereas today in Toronto area is .792???
    That calculation is based on the average US price of which there is a wide fluctuation (some outlets are currently at $1.53), whereas Cdn name brand and no-names are closely linked or better expressed as FIXED!

  6. @Ron Jones: I’m sure that’s not the first assertion of such! :)

Post a Response