Vancouver gas prices surge past $1.70/L over weekend, could exceed $2.00/L by summer’s end

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) argues that the province's carbon taxes are the leading contributing factor to high taxes at the pump.

Last summer, decimated oil prices and low demand drove prices below $1.00 per litre. Now, prices could exceed $2.oo per litre at the end of summer.

According to the federation, the province's carbon tax added $0.10 per litre to gasoline costs. They estimate that the province’s low carbon fuel standard - which requires fuel suppliers to add certain percentages of renewable fuels to gasoline - added $0.14 per litre at the pumps.

"Combined, BC’s two carbon taxes cost about 24 cents per litre of gasoline," the federation estimates.

The federation stated that Metro Vancouver drivers pay $0.68 per litre in transit levies and fuel taxes. On average, B.C. taxpayers pay $0.54 per litre, while Victorians pay $0.61 per litre.

In a CTF press release, its B.C. director Kris Sims said drivers are 'fuming' at the cost of gasoline. "They should know that about 68 cents of that pump price are taxes in Metro Vancouver,” she said.

She was critical of BC Premier John Horgan for wanting high fuel taxes on fuel. "It’s just going to get worse if we don’t tell them to stop," she said, urging the province to disclose the cost of these 'hidden taxes' to BC drivers.

On April 1, 2021, British Columbia raised its carbon tax from $40 to $45 per tonne and is scheduled to increase it to $50 per tonne on April 1, 2022.

According to the 23rd Annual Gas Tax Honesty Day report, Vancouver had the highest gas prices in the country in April 2021 at $1.52 per litre. Victoria had the second-highest pump prices at $1.48 per litre, while the rest of the province came in fourth at $1.33 per litre.

The difference between those three regions of the same province are partly explained by the transit taxes applied in Vancouver (18.5 cents per litre) and Victoria (5.5 cents per litre). Last year, the B.C. government took more than $2.5 billion from taxpayers in fuel taxes and the carbon tax.