Provincial Gas Tax Rates in Canada: Excise, GST, and Carbon

Provincial gas tax rates in Canada by province run from 7.5 cents per litre in Newfoundland and Labrador at the low end to 19.2 cents per litre in Quebec at the high end, with the other provinces spread across that range. The Canadian constitution gives each province the power to levy direct taxes for provincial purposes, and every province exercises that power at the pump.¹ The provincial rate is only one layer of pump-price tax, though. Federal excise tax and GST or HST stack on top, so the provincial number alone won’t tell you what a full tank actually costs in tax.

Current Provincial Gas Tax Rates

As of late 2025, the per-litre provincial gasoline tax rates are:²

Quebec: 19.2 cents per litre, the highest provincial rate in the country.³
Nova Scotia: 15.5 cents per litre.
Saskatchewan: 15 cents per litre.⁴
British Columbia: 14.5 cents per litre in most of the province; 27 cents per litre in the Vancouver area once the TransLink transit surcharge of 18.5 cents is added.⁵
Alberta: up to 13 cents per litre, adjusted quarterly against the price of West Texas Intermediate oil.⁶
New Brunswick: 10.87 cents per litre.
Ontario: 9 cents per litre, made permanent on July 1, 2025.⁷
Prince Edward Island: 8.47 cents per litre.
Newfoundland and Labrador: 7.5 cents per litre.⁸

Manitoba’s rate falls in the mid-range; Natural Resources Canada’s fuel levies page publishes the current figure alongside every other jurisdiction.²

Provinces Where the Rate Isn’t Flat

Four provinces don’t quite fit a single-number table, and the details matter if you drive there.

Alberta’s Oil-Price Formula

Alberta’s fuel tax is tied to WTI crude. The full 13 cents per litre applies only when the average WTI price drops below $80 per barrel. Between $80 and $84.99 the rate is 9 cents. Between $85 and $89.99 it falls to 4.5 cents. At $90 or above, the tax is zero. The province reassesses the rate every quarter, so Alberta drivers can see meaningful swings without any new legislation.⁶

The Vancouver Surcharge

Drivers in Metro Vancouver pay an extra 18.5 cents per litre on top of BC’s base 14.5-cent motor fuel tax. That surcharge funds TransLink, the regional transit authority responsible for buses, SkyTrain, and SeaBus. The result is a combined 27 cents per litre in the Vancouver area, well above the rate elsewhere in the province.⁵

Quebec Regional Variation

Quebec’s 19.2-cent rate is the base, but certain regions outside Montreal apply small increases or reductions. Revenu Québec publishes the region-specific rates.³

Ontario’s Permanent Cut

Ontario cut its gasoline tax from 14.7 to 9 cents per litre in July 2022 as a temporary affordability measure. After four extensions, the province made the 9-cent rate permanent effective July 1, 2025, which the government estimates saves the average household about $115 a year compared with the pre-cut rate.⁷

Federal Excise Tax on Top

The federal government charges its own excise tax over and above the provincial rate: 10 cents per litre on gasoline and 4 cents per litre on diesel under normal conditions. Aviation fuel is taxed federally at 4 cents per litre. These rates have been stable since the mid-1990s for gasoline and the late 1980s for diesel.²

A temporary change is in effect right now. From April 20, 2026 to September 7, 2026, the federal government has suspended the entire federal fuel excise tax on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels. During the suspension you pay 10 cents per litre less on gasoline and 4 cents less on diesel at the pump.⁹¹⁰ The full rates revert automatically when the window closes.

GST and HST on the Whole Bill

GST or HST is the final charge, and it applies to everything underneath: the base cost of the fuel, the federal excise tax, and the provincial fuel tax.² The effective rate ranges from 5% in Alberta to 15% in the Atlantic provinces. Because sales tax compounds on top of the fuel taxes, a provincial tax cut of a few cents also trims the GST/HST slightly, pushing the total saving a little past the headline number.

What About the Carbon Charge

Federal carbon pricing used to appear as a separate line on your pump receipts, but it no longer applies to consumer fuels. Ottawa set all federal fuel charge rates to zero effective April 1, 2025 and cancelled the scheduled annual increases that would have taken the carbon price to $95 per tonne and beyond.¹¹ Before that, the federal carbon charge had reached $80 per tonne for the 2024–25 fuel charge year, adding roughly 17.6 cents per litre to gasoline in provinces using the federal backstop. That charge sat under the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and was legally distinct from provincial fuel tax.¹² Provincial gas taxes are unaffected by that change and remain fully in place. Some provinces run their own carbon pricing systems, and whether those continue depends on each province.

Who Qualifies for a Reduced or Zero Rate

A few groups pay less than the posted provincial rate.

Farming, commercial fishing, forestry, and aquaculture operations qualify for reduced rates or full exemptions on fuel used off the public road network. The mechanism is coloured fuel: tax-exempt or reduced-rate diesel is dyed a visible colour, typically purple or red, and you generally need a permit to buy it. Nova Scotia’s Consumer’s Exemption Permit costs $93.40, renews every three years, and requires proof of farming registration or a fisher identification number.¹³ Running coloured fuel in a highway vehicle carries steep penalties. Ontario’s first-offence fine is $440 plus three times the tax that should have been paid, with repeat offenders liable for ten times the tax.¹⁴

First Nations individuals and bands are generally exempt from provincial motor fuel tax on purchases made on First Nations land when the fuel is for personal use of the individual or use of the band. The exemption flows from section 87 of the federal Indian Act. Title to the fuel must pass on reserve, which in practice means buying at a station physically located on First Nations land. Corporations, cooperatives, and tribal councils with First Nations shareholders do not qualify. Each province runs its own version of the retailer registration and reporting system, but the underlying legal basis is the same nationally.¹⁵

What You Actually Pay at the Pump

The layers add up quickly. A litre of gasoline in Quebec at the normal federal excise rate carries 19.2 cents provincial, 10 cents federal excise, and GST/QST on the whole package. In the Vancouver area, the combined 27-cent provincial and TransLink tax, plus federal excise, plus GST, can push the total tax component above 40 cents per litre before the cost of the fuel itself.⁵ On the other end, a driver filling up in Newfoundland during the current federal excise suspension pays just 7.5 cents per litre in provincial tax and nothing federally, the lightest tax burden in the country right now.

1
Canada.ca. The Constitutional Distribution of Legislative Powers
2
Natural Resources Canada. Fuel Consumption Levies in Canada
3
Revenu Québec. Fuel Tax Rates
4
Saskatchewan eTax Services. Fuel Tax
5
Government of British Columbia. Motor Fuel Tax and Carbon Tax Rates on Fuels and Substances
6
Alberta.ca. Fuel Tax – Overview
7
Government of Ontario. 2025 Fall Statement – Chapter 1B
8
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Gasoline Tax
9
Office of the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Carney Suspends the Federal Fuel Excise Tax on Gasoline and Diesel
10
Canada.ca. Temporarily Suspending the Federal Fuel Excise Tax
11
Canada.ca. Fuel Charge Rates
12
Justice Laws Website. Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act
13
Government of Nova Scotia. Fuel Tax Application – Consumers Exemption Permit
14
Government of Ontario. Coloured Fuel – Fuel Tax
15
Government of British Columbia. Motor Fuel Tax Exemption on Sales to First Nations