Gas tax: Why Canadians are paying more at the pump in some provinces - National Post
Gas prices are displayed at the corner of Wellington and Exeter Roads in London, Ont., on Monday, July 27, 2026. Photo by Geoff Robins /PostmediaArticle contentAs gas prices remain stubbornly high across Canada, gas taxes at both the federal and provincial level vary from high to non-existent, as groups like the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) call for relief.
The CTF is calling on Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston to suspend the province’s gas tax amid continued high prices at the pumps. This comes as several other provinces as well as the federal government have enacted full or partial rollbacks on gasoline taxes.
The CTF notes that the Nova Scotia gas tax amounts to 15.5 cents per litre on gasoline, the highest in Atlantic Canada. “Houston has never cut it,” Devin Drover, CTF’s Atlantic Director and General Counsel, told National Post by email.
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He added: “The government has never given a real reason. When affordability comes up, the Houston government points to its one-point HST cut, but it has never touched the 15.5-cent-per-litre provincial gas tax.”
National Post has reached out to the premier’s office for comment.
Suspending the provincial gas tax would save Nova Scotians almost $10 on a 64-litre minivan fill-up, according to the CTF.
Drover said the fuel tax brings in about $297 million a year, per the province’s own budget estimates “A four-month suspension like P.E.I.’s would run roughly a third of that, about $100 million.”
Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that her government would eliminate its fuel tax for three months to help fight costs. The cut took effect yesterday, Oct. 1, and amounts to a 13-cent-a-litre savings on gasoline and diesel fuel.
“Every fill-up will cost Alberta families and businesses less,” Smith said last week at a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
