Provincewide gas prices are expected to drop significantly in the next 48 hours, providing some much-needed relief for those travelling on the roads this long weekend.
Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst with En-Pro International Inc., told CityNews Ottawa the price of gas is likely to drop three cents on Thursday (today) and will further dip eight more cents by Friday at most stations.
McKnight says that Friday’s drop will see gas prices fall below $2 a litre ($1.989) in southern Ontario. In the North, where the price is generally considerably higher than in the south, the price isn't likely to fall below $2 in most areas.
The fuel cost has risen steadily in recent weeks. On April 20 in Sudbury, the price jumped 24 cents to 196.6 a litre. From there, it hovered near that price for a few weeks before jumping to more than $2 a litre around May 3. It climbed further, hitting 209 a litre or so about a week ago before spiking dramatically this week to more than $2.20 a litre.
The agency says the rate increased from 6.7 per cent in March as costs at food stores jumped 9.7 per cent from a year earlier, and gas prices were up 36.3 per cent.
In April, the Ford government announced legislation to reduce gas and fuel taxes in Ontario temporarily.
The provincial Liberals say they would offer rebates of up to $8,000 for electric vehicles up to retail prices of $65,000 while also incentivizing people to take public transit by slashing all transit fares across the province to $1 per ride until January 2024.
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh wants Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fund the benefit increases by redirecting a $2.6-billion tax credit promised in the recent budget to help companies build carbon capture and storage systems.
Most of that would likely go to oil and gas companies, and the NDP says it is a massive subsidy to companies making record profits because of the same soaring gas prices harming Canadian families.
With files from Lucas Casaletto and The Canadian Press
