Drivers in Ontario should expect to encounter an increase in gas prices in April due to the carbon tax increase.
On April 1, the price on carbon pollution in Canada increased by $15 per tonne. For gasoline, the tax will be 17.6 cents per litre, an increment of 3.3 cents per litre.
Diesel will increase by around 4 cents per litre.
According to GasWizard.ca, In Toronto, this means that prices at the pumps could increase to $1.62 per litre today in Toronto.
Carbon pricing is part of the government’s plan to minimize greenhouse gas emissions and is about to increase every year until 2030. Provinces had to either adopt their own levy on these emissions or be subject to the federal pricing model.
Ontario decided not to implement its own carbon pricing system. Premier Doug Ford has been talking about his disdain for the policy, saying it’s “the worst tax ever put on a bunch of people.”
In his 2024 budget, Ford extended Ontario’s gas and fuel tax rate cut, a temporary measure his government implemented in 2022 to fight price increases, until the end of the year.
The tax rate cut reduced the gasoline tax by 5.7 cents per litre, and the fuel tax by 5.3 cents per litre. Ford’s government tax rate cut has saved households in Ontario an average of $320 over the last two and a half years since its introduction in 2022.
Also, the gas and fuel tax rate cut has cost the provincial government over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.
It is pertinent to note that the federal government also provides a rebate to offset the cost of the carbon tax on consumers. According to officials, a single individual in Ontario may receive about $140 back when their taxes are filed.
