TORONTO – Gasoline prices are skyrocketing. The price increases for fuels do not stop, on the contrary they reach new records. Today pump prices reached a record $214.9 per liter in GTA and most of southern Ontario. And the day before, Saturday, they had touched $2.11 per liter. An unstoppable race to the top that infuriates powerless motorists in the face of the increases that are now almost the order of the day. 

“I expect us to reach $2.20 per liter within a week or get very close to this figure with the possibility of getting to $2.30 per liter this summer,” said Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague, warning drivers to familiarize themselves with prices that stand around two dollars.

McTeague also operates GasWizard.ca, a website that offers price forecasts to give drivers two to three days’ notice. His guess is that over the summer prices could reach as high as $2,250 per litre. “The last record by the way was $2,099 for one day, on May 18. And it’s not just here in Toronto that prices are rising, in Montreal the same thing happens, in Vancouver the same thing happens. In the Prairie Provinces or Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta the same thing is happening, prices are rising to record figures,” he said.

McTeague added that the low supply and high demand for gasoline in the summer, as more people choose to travel, are the main reasons for this price increase.

This comes as a result of the drastic rise in prices in recent months due to global demand for gasoline and oil, the value of the Canadian dollar and the war in Ukraine.

However, McTeague said there could be some relief coming next month, referring to the plan by Doug Ford and the Conservatives to temporarily reduce the excise duty on gasoline in the province by 5.7 cents per litre for six months starting July 1st.

The increases, meanwhile, are emptying the pockets of motorists. “Maybe some respite will come from the government if the Conservatives keep their promise to lower taxes… but considering the overall extent of the shortage of supply of diesel, oil and especially gasoline during the summer season, it is evident that the limit is the sky. There is no need to be cheerful, the demand for fuel continues to grow and prices continue to soar upwards. Anything is possible and we could continue to record prices that are broken one after the other throughout the summer.”

Fuel prices kicked off in January across Canada and began breaking records in February.

At the same time, Covid-19 restrictions began to be lifted and people began to move again, bringing gasoline demand to pre-pandemic levels.

Then, the invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions on Russia sent international crude oil prices into a tailspin.

Of course, it is low-income Canadians who see a considerable portion of their salary vanish when they have to refuel.