Drivers across the country will get a break at the pumps as of Tuesday with the end of the consumer carbon tax, thanks to one of the first moves made by Prime Minister Mark Carney when he took office.
As of Tuesday morning, some gas prices around Winnipeg have been spotted as low as $1.16 a litre.
Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy, a crowdsourced resource that tracks gas prices in locations across Canada and the U.S., told 680 CJOB’s The Start on Monday that local drivers should expect to see effects of the change almost immediately.
“I believe that at some point (Tuesday), most stations will be lowering their prices about 15 cents a litre for gasoline and probably 20 to 21 cents a litre for diesel,” said De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis.
De Haan says other factors could cause the price to rise going forward, but he doesn’t foresee anything drastic enough to completely offset the carbon tax pause.
Among those potential factors are tariffs in the ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S., as Winnipeg relies on refined products from down south.
And of course, there are the regular changes in gas prices that come with the arrival of warmer weather.
“Things like the changeover from winter to summer gasoline is having an impact,” De Haan said.
“Rising demand as Canadians are travelling more as temperatures warm up, that’s having an impact … as are refineries that are undergoing maintenance before the start of the summer driving seasons.”
