According to federal government data, recent weeks have seen a dramatic drop in gas prices, with the cost of regular gasoline in Canada dropping by more than one-fifth from the highs reached earlier this summer.
Natural Resources Canada data reveals that the average monthly price of regular petrol in Canada decreased by 22.8 per cent on September 1 to 161.1 cents per litre, from the average annual high of 208.6 cents per litre for June.
The average price of gasoline in Canada is still close to or much higher than in January, when the cost per litre was the lowest, at 149.2 cents per litre nationally.
Most of 2022 saw a considerable increase in gas prices, which has contributed significantly to Canada’s rising inflation rate and partially attributed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conflict in Ukraine.
The price of gas has also recently been declining in the United States.
Moreover, the Bank of Canada is expected to raise interest rates again this month, even though inflation may have peaked in June.
The 71 cities for which statistics on gas prices were available from Natural Resources Canada all experienced their highest monthly peaks in June. However, of those cities, over one-third had price declines more than the national average.
They comprise several of the country’s largest cities and smaller towns spread across Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
The most significant price decline was in Red Deer, Alberta, where it dropped by 31.2 per cent to 129.7 cents per litre on September 1 from an average of 188.5 cents per litre in June.
Fort St. John, British Columbia, experienced minor changes over that time, with petrol prices falling from 213 cents per litre in June to 189.9 cents per litre on September 1.
The following cities experienced above-average drops in petrol prices from June to September 1:
- Canada (22.8 per cent)
- Brantford, Ont. (26.1 per cent)
- Barrie, Ont. (26.4 per cent)
- Calgary (23.9 per cent)
- Edmonton (26 per cent)
- Gatineau, Que. (22.9 per cent)
- Guelph, Ont. (26.2 per cent)
- Hamilton, Ont. (26.3 per cent)
- Kingston, Ont. (25.6 per cent)
- Kitchener, Ont. (26.2 per cent)
- Lloydminster, Alta./Sask. (24.8 per cent)
- London, Ont. (26.4 per cent)
- North Bay, Ont. (25.7 per cent)
- Oshawa, Ont. (26.4 per cent)
- Ottawa (26.3 per cent)
- Peterborough, Ont. (25.9 per cent)
- Red Deer, Alta. (31.2 per cent)
- Regina (23.5 per cent)
- Sarnia, Ont. (26.6 per cent)
- Saskatoon (26.4 per cent)
- Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. (25.3 per cent)
- St. Catharines, Ont. (25.9 per cent)
- Thunder Bay, Ont. (24.8 per cent)
- Toronto (25.7 per cent)
- Windsor, Ont. (26 per cent)
Source: National Resource Canada
Presented by CTC News