May 15, 2026 "This gas tip could save you hundreds of dollars a year": Today I found this article by John Vannavally -Rao on BNN Bloomberg:
TORONTO – Perhaps no one in the country knows more about gas prices than Dan McTeague.
He’s been watching them for 30 years
and founded Gas Wizard,
a website that helps drivers find the lowest prices near them.
With the national average now above $1.90 a litre,
he says people are hungry for ways to save this long weekend.
He has one piece of advice that still surprises many of them.
Never buy gas before 6 p.m.
“Anyone who takes advantage of that is going to wind up with a few extra bucks in their jeans,” McTeague said.
He’s noticed a consistent pattern:
prices at many Canadian gas stations drop in the late afternoon and into the evening
— anywhere from three to seven eight cents a litre.
It doesn’t happen at every station,
but McTeague says it happens at most.
The exception is Atlantic Canada,
where prices are regulated.
The reason comes down to margins.
He says gas stations control only about 12 cents per litre on fuel
and the rest is crude oil costs,
refining costs and taxes.
“That’s their profit retail margin,”
he said.
“And usually, by mid to end of day, they’ve covered what they need to cover.”
Once they’ve hit that threshold, station owners are willing to trim prices to drive traffic because the real money isn’t necessarily at the pump:
it’s in the merchandise sold inside.
“I saw the other day a can of Canada Dry ginger ale selling for $3.99,”
McTeague said.
“The money is in food.
It’s in donuts.
It’s in coffee.”
If cheap gas gets you in the door,
McTeague says convenience store attached to the gas station makes up the difference.
Stations also benefit from volume.
Moving more fuel because of a cheaper price
can earn them better rates from their supplier on the next order.
“It’s almost like clockwork,” he said.
“Most gas stations, not all, but most will drop their retail margins after 6 p.m.
And the price goes right back up at midnight.”
He says the pattern holds in cities including
Vancouver,
Toronto,
Ottawa,
Montreal
and Quebec City.
Weekends can be even better.
McTeague says Sunday night after 6 p.m. is probably the best time of the week to fill up,
sometimes shaving off an extra few cents a litre compared to weekday evenings.
His own wife started following the advice a few years ago after they talked it over.
“She’s figured out that we’ve saved close to $500 a year on two vehicles.
So, $250 a vehicle,” he said.
“It’s the tried and true.”
May 18, 2026 "How the federal government could make gas more affordable for Canadians: expert": Today I found this article by Kamil Karamali on BNN Bloomberg:
When the federal government suspended the excise tax that would save Canadians roughly 10 cents per litre,
it was seen as the first and,
perhaps, most obvious step to reduce the price at the pumps in response to the Iran-U.S. war shutting down a key oil-shipping corridor in the Strait of Hormuz and reducing global oil supply.
But there are other changes Ottawa could make to reduce the price of gas even further, one expert says.
For one, the Liberal government could remove GST and HST from gasoline,
while provinces could suspend their provincial fuel taxes as well.
But according to former Canada Energy Regulator chief executive officer Gitane De Silva, there are some pros and cons to consider.
“If they’re not charging that tax to consumers,
that’s less money going into provincial and federal coffers,”
De Silva said in a Zoom interview with CTV News on Friday.
“On the flip side, because the price of oil is so high right now,
governments are making more money,”
she added.
“The province of Alberta in particular is making a lot more money off of oil royalties at this time,
and then the federal government is also collecting more federal tax.
So there is a balancing act,
given Canada’s fiscal situation about
how much of a downside in terms of tax revenue
each jurisdiction can afford.”
‘Once that tax comes off, it’s hard to put it back on’
Gitane also adds that the high price of oil is a “double-edged sword” where
governments will have to weigh the
short
- and long-term
benefits
of their decisions.
“It is beneficial to energy-producing jurisdictions in the short term in terms of all of that additional tax and royalty revenue that is being collected
which can then be used to fund all kinds of social programs.
The downside is the longer the price is high,
the greater the risk that the economy goes into a recession,
and that means consumers are buying less.”
When it comes to what she would do if she was in a decision-making role, Gitane said Canada may want to hold off on removing taxes
and instead find other ways to provide relief to Canadians in the short term,
like providing a rebate.
“You could do things like potentially increase a GST rebate check, which is what we’re seeing,”
she said, adding there are other ways the federal government can “recycle money through the economy.”
“Knowing that you’re going to have this increased tax revenue coming in for a while,
you might actually want to help ease the pain in the longer term,
as opposed to do something in the short term,
because once those prices come down,
once that tax comes off,
it’s hard to put it back on.”
De Silva adds that even though Canada is among the largest crude oil producers in the world and gets most of its own oil domestically,
the closure of the Strait of Hormuz halfway around the world still affects Canadian gas prices.
“Oil is a global commodity
and the price is set on the international market,
and a barrel of oil is not less expensive in Canada,”
said De Silva.
“Even though we are a major oil exporter,
it does not cost us less to buy that at home
than it would be what we would sell it for on the international market.”
De Silva adds that because there is now
roughly 20 per cent less oil flowing to international markets,
the demand is the same,
so the price goes up for everyone.
My week:
Mon. May 25, 2026:
LEO would like to know:
Are you planning to celebrate Canada Day?
No
66.59% (2896)
Yes
33.41% (1453)
My opinion: No.
Thurs. May 28, 2026:
Rebecca M, Calgary, Alberta, would like to know:
When it comes to a quick conversation with friends or family, do you prefer texting or calling?
Texting
65.88% (2618)
Calling
34.12% (1356)
My opinion: Texting.
