The gasoline, diesel and automotive propane pump prices are collected directly from individual dealers (gas stations) every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM local time by telephone. The prices reported in the weekly reports are thus a ‘snapshot’ of the prices on that particular day and do not represent an average of price fluctuations throughout the week. The telephone survey encompasses 38 cities across Canada and includes dealers from the major (branded) oil companies as well as independents. Only self-serve prices are collected for gasoline and a combination of self-serve and full serve prices are collected for both diesel and propane.

Pump prices include all applicable federal, provincial and urban (municipal) taxes as well as sales taxes where applicable. The ex-tax price represents the price of the fuel before any taxes are levied.

The Canada average represents a weighted average based on relative annual retail sales volumes as reported by StatsCan using the following 10 cities: St. John’s, Charlottetown, Halifax, St. John, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver.

The prices presented in the monthly reports represent an average of the prices from the four of five weekly reports contained in the respective month. Prices are for specific urban centres and do not represent provincial or state averages.

The tables compare wholesale regular unleaded gasoline and low sulfur diesel prices in 14 Canadian cities and in selected American cities. The prices are collected directly from Canadian wholesalers and are reported weekly in Canadian cents per litre. Wholesale prices are not taxed; all taxes are applied to the pump price at the retail level.

The prices reflect a snapshot of wholesale prices at a particular point in time and at specific locations. Prices can vary significantly from day to day and city to city. Prices are for specific urban centres and do not represent provincial or state averages.

Crude prices are collected daily from five major oil companies and the exchange rates from the Bank of Canada. These amounts are used in calculations to produce daily averages. All prices have taken into account tariffs, exchange rates, and conversions to metric measurements. As the oil companies do not report their prices Saturday through Sunday, there are no values for these days. Weekly and monthly amounts are calculated using an average of the daily totals.

The diagram below illustrates the methodology used in determining what makes up the retail pump price in Canada.

Crude = Edmonton par
Refiner Operating Margin = rack price - crude
Marketing Operating Margin = extax price - rack
Tax content = pump price - tax

The crude price used in all cities and in the Canada Average is the monthly average of the Edmonton Par crude price. It is used as an estimate of crude costs (refinery acquisition costs) and does not take into consideration transportation tariffs or costs.

The pump and ex-tax pump prices used in these documents are monthly averages.

The rack prices used in the calculations for refiner margins are the monthly averages for the corresponding Unbranded Rack Price as reported in the wholesale document for regular unleaded gasoline (RUL) and low sulfur diesel (LSD). The respective rack price is matched with its corresponding tax and extax prices based on city. For Charlottetown, the Halifax rack price is used and for both Yellowknife and Whitehorse the Edmonton rack price is used. Rack Prices Prior to 1999 are sourced from Bloomberg OBG.

The Canadian Average values are the weighted averages of the ten major-city centres as previously explained.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) was brought into effect on January 1, 1991 and replaced the existing Federal Sales Tax. This tax is set at 7% and is applied to the retail price of all petroleum products. Included in the tax base used to calculate the GST are crude costs, refining and product margins, provincial product taxes, and the federal excise tax.

On April 1, 1997, the GST and retail sales tax in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador were replaced by a single, Harmonized Sales Tax, the HST. The tax, levied at 15%, applies to the goods and services subject to the GST. Included in the tax base are all the components used to calculate the GST.

The Federal Excise Tax is a fixed tax established in federal budgets.

The Northwest Territories calculates its petroleum product taxes as a percentage of the pump price and assigns a specific value that is reviewed quarterly. The remaining provinces and Yukon have fixed rate taxes.

In addition to its petroleum product tax, Quebec introduced a broad-based sales tax on January 1, 1991, the QST which was set at 8%. The QST, which is levied on all petroleum products, was reduced to 6.5% on May 13, 1994. Included in the tax base for the QST are all of the components in the base for the GST plus the GST. There are also discounts on the consumption taxes levied depending on distance from the US and Ontario borders.

The order in which taxes are applied is described as follows: 1) consumption and excise taxes (municipal, provincial and federal) are added to the extax price, then 2) the GST is calculated and added onto the sum from 1), then 3) (in Quebec only) the QST is calculated and added onto the result of 2).

There are certain cities in Canada that levies a municipal tax on motor fuels. Currently, Vancouver, Victoria and Montréal levy additional consumption taxes on gasoline. See taxation resources in CPMDS for current municipal taxes.

Federal and provincial tax reductions, exemptions, rebates or refunds are available in some cases.

The Department of Finance provides Federal tax information and each respective provincial finance department provides provincial tax levels.

The Canadian price represents the monthly average of regular unleaded gasoline sold at self-serve stations as gathered in the Weekly Pump Price Survey. The U.S. price represents a monthly average of the U.S. City average retail prices for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline (EIA 878), as published by the U.S. Department of Energy, converted into Canadian cents per litre.

Crude costs are the monthly averages for Edmonton Par (Canada) and West Texas Intermediate (U.S.). The crude cost differential may be the result of different crude qualities in each country.

The prices for gasoline in 12 International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries are given in Canadian cents per litre, including and excluding taxes, for the most recent quarter. All of the price information is obtained from the IEA, except the Canadian price, which is derived from the weekly Pump Price Survey. Regular Unleaded Gasoline is used for the United States, Japan and Canada, Germany and Australia and Midgrade Gasoline is used in the remaining countries.

The exchange rates applied to all calculations are monthly averages (converted to quarterly averages) reported by the Bank of Canada.

Historical data available from January 1987 to 1995.

This data was gathered by Natural Resources Canada during the heating season (September to April) and compares residential heating oil prices at the end of the month in selected markets across Canada. The data is a composite of prices reported in NRCan’s monthly survey of residential heating oil prices and information provided by Canadian refiners. The prices represent effective prices including any temporary allowances in place at the time of reporting. The Canadian average represents the weighted average price of eight city prices including St. John’s, Charlottetown, Halifax, Saint John, Montréal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Although not included in the Canadian average, Québec and Ottawa prices are shown since furnace fuel oil is an important heating source in these centres.

Regina and Calgary are not displayed because residential furnace fuel oil markets in Saskatchewan and Alberta are very small compared to other markets in Canada. In fact, furnace oil sales in Saskatchewan and Alberta account for less than one percent of all residential heating requirements in those provinces at the time the surveys were conducted.

Prices including and excluding taxes are published separately. The including taxes document incorporates the federal GST, and the QST in Québec and Montréal, where applicable.

Prices including and excluding taxes are published separately. The including and excluding taxes are published separately. The including taxes document incorporates the federal GST, and the QST in Québec and Montréal, where applicable.

As natural gas for automobiles is primarily available at retail outlets in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, the natural gas survey is conducted once a month (on the 15^th day of the month) in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. The table shows the retail price (including tax) for the current year in cents per kilogram. The taxes on natural gas include the federal GST, and in Montréal , the QST

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