As gas prices remain stubbornly high across Canada, gas taxes at both the federal and provincial level vary from high to non-existent, as groups like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) call for relief.
asserted
groups → remain → relief
The CTF is calling on Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston to suspend the province’s gas tax amid continued high prices at the pumps.
asserted
CTF → call → pumps
This comes as several other provinces as well as the federal government have enacted full or partial rollbacks on gasoline taxes.
asserted
provinces → come → taxes
The CTF notes that the Nova Scotia gas tax amounts to 15.5 cents per litre on gasoline, the highest in Atlantic Canada.
asserted
tax → note → Canada
“Houston has never cut it,” Devin Drover, CTF’s Atlantic Director and General Counsel, told National Post by email.
asserted
Drover → cut → email
He added: “The government has never given a real reason.
asserted
government → add → reason
When affordability comes up, the Houston government points to its one-point HST cut, but it has never touched the 15.5-cent-per-litre provincial gas tax.”
National Post has reached out to the premier’s office for comment.
Suspending the provincial gas tax would save Nova Scotians almost $10 on a 64-litre minivan fill-up, according to the CTF.
uncertain
Suspending → come → CTF
Drover said the fuel tax brings in about $297 million a year, per the province’s own budget estimates “A four-month suspension like P.E.I.’s would run roughly a third of that, about $100 million.”
asserted
suspension → say → that
Alberta takes a three-month break
Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government would eliminate its fuel tax for three months to help fight costs.
asserted
government → take → costs
The cut took effect yesterday, Oct. 1, and amounts to a 13-cent-a-litre savings on gasoline and diesel fuel.
asserted
cut → take → gasoline
In June she opted to keep the tax but instead invited Albertans to apply for a $100 affordability cheque, available for households making less than $225,000.
asserted
she → opt → 225,000
But Smith admitted the program was not well received, noting: “We have to be willing to take criticism and adjust and change course.”
asserted
We → admit → course
Ontario, Newfoundland make change permanent
Newfoundland and Labrador had cut its provincial gas tax by 8.05 cents per litre in June 2022, and this year passed legislation to make that decrease permanent, a move applauded by the Retail Council of Canada.
asserted
decrease → make → Canada
It keeps the province’s gasoline taxes at 7.5 cents per litre of gas and 9.5 cents for diesel.
asserted
It → keep → diesel
Ontario made a similar move in the same timeframe, cutting taxes on a gas by 5.7 cents and on diesel by 5.3.
asserted
Ontario → make → 5.3
Prince Edward Island, meanwhile, has announced a four-month hiatus on gasoline taxes.
asserted
Island → announce → taxes
The cut took effect Sept. 26 and lasts until Jan. 31, 2027.
asserted
cut → take → Jan.
The change saves Islanders 8.47 cents per litre on gasoline and 14.15 cents per litre on diesel until then.
asserted
change → save → diesel
P.E.I.’s move follows a decision by the federal government to extend its own moratorium on gas taxes.
asserted
move → follow → taxes
Ottawa had already announced in April that the federal tax of 10 cents a litre on gasoline and four cents on diesel would be removed until Sept. 7.
asserted
tax → announce → Sept.
Five days before the end of that period came another announcement that the suspension would continue until Jan. 31, 2027.
asserted
suspension → come → Jan.
At that point, the tax will come back at a 50 per cent rate through March 31.
asserted
tax → come → March
A politically agnostic choice
Nova Scotia has a Conservative government, but Drover said cutting gas taxes is not a party-dependant decision.
asserted
cutting → have → taxes
The Liberal government in Ottawa suspended its tax in April, while Progressive Conservative premiers did it in P.E.I. and Ontario.
asserted
premiers → suspend → P.E.I.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, a Liberal government cut the tax in 2022 and a Conservative government later made the cut permanent.
asserted
cut → cut → 2022
“And Manitoba’s NDP ran a full-year fuel tax holiday in 2024, then brought the tax back 10 per cent lower,” he noted.
asserted
he → run → tax
Taxes on taxes
Even with the federal gas tax suspended, taxes make up 26 per cent of the price at the pumps in Nova Scotia, according to CTF’s recent Gas Tax Honesty Report.
uncertain
taxes → suspend → Report
Nova Scotia drivers also pay a tax-on-tax of about three cents per litre, because sales taxes are charged on top of all the per-litre taxes.
asserted
taxes → pay → taxes
That report also noted that Montreal has the highest gas taxes in the country at 61 cents per litre, or 35 per cent of the price of gasoline.
asserted
Montreal → note → gasoline
Drivers in Montreal pay a transit tax when fuelling up in the city, in addition to provincial and federal levies.
asserted
Drivers → pay → levies
The rest of Quebec had gas taxes amounting to 33 per cent of the total price.
asserted
rest → have → price
Similarly, drivers in Vancouver and Victoria also pay transit taxes at the pumps, and had total taxes of 28 and 25 per cent, respectively.
asserted
drivers → pay → 28
Manitobans pay just 17 per cent tax on their gas, with Saskatchewan at 18 per cent.
asserted
Manitobans → pay → cent
“Ottawa, P.E.I., Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador have all delivered meaningful relief at the pumps,” said Drover.
asserted
Drover → deliver → pumps
“Houston controls Nova Scotia’s gas tax and he needs to suspend it now.”
asserted
he → control → it
The Aporia
