January 2025. Kalibrate's Canadian Petroleum Price Snapshot

Gasoline

In January, Canada’s average retail gasoline price increased by 5.5 cents per litre. Crude oil prices rose during the first half of the month as the outgoing U.S. president increased sanctions on Russia’s oil infrastructure and low crude stocks in the U.S. applied upward pressure on crude oil prices. Also contributing to rising prices this January were expanding gasoline refining margins, unusual for this time of year when demand is typically at its lowest. However, the extreme cold weather south of the border in January hampered refinery operations along the Gulf Coast, the North American refining hub, and may have contributed to higher gasoline prices. Also, a diminishing Canada/U.S. exchange rate could be impacting refining margins in Canada.

The largest price increase in January occurred in Brandon, Manitoba, where retail gasoline prices rose 19.1 cents per litre to 139.2 by the month’s end. Much of the increase was due to reinstated gasoline taxes of 12.5 cents per litre in the province, which had been removed since the start of 2024. Almost all markets experienced rising gasoline prices in January. Still, there were some exceptions, such as in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where prices experienced the largest decline in the country, falling 4.6 cents per litre to end the month at 152.8.

Overall, retail gasoline prices ended January the highest in Vancouver, British Columbia, at 185.3 cents per litre. And despite experiencing a significant increase in January, gasoline prices finished the month the lowest in Brandon, Manitoba, at 139.2 cents per litre.

Diesel

Retail diesel prices in Canada increased by 7.7 cents per litre in January. Diesel fuel is part of the distillate fuel group, which includes home heating fuel, a similar product. As colder temperatures set in January, the demand for distillate fuel increased over the month, leading to expanding diesel refining margins. This was more pronounced in Eastern Canada, where home heating fuel use is more predominant than in other parts of the country. Consequently, retail diesel prices in Eastern Canada rose on average nearly fifteen cents per litre, roughly twice as much as the rest of the country.

In January, diesel prices increased the most in Canada in Brandon, Manitoba, rising 22.0 cents per litre to end the month at 169.4. As with gasoline, diesel petroleum taxes of 12.5 cents per litre were reinstated at the beginning of January. No markets in Canada experienced declining diesel prices in January; however, prices in Whitehorse, Yukon, and Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, were unchanged from the end of last month. Retail diesel prices in Canada ended January the highest in Labrador City, Newfoundland, at 202.8 cents per litre and the lowest in Edmonton, Alberta, at 163.4 cents per litre.

We conduct a daily survey of retail gasoline, diesel, propane, and furnace fuel prices in 77 Canadian cities.

Canadian petroleum prices are available for download and display using a variety of analytic tools on our website: Charting.kalibrate.com/