Canadian Taxpayers Federation calls on Ontario to make gas tax cut permanent

A commuter pumps gas into their vehicle at a Esso gas station in Toronto on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin)

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) says Ontario’s gas tax cut has saved families nearly $900 over the two years it’s been in place – now they’re calling on the provincial government to make it permanent.

First announced in 2022, the cut has been extended three times since to ease the pain at the pump. The move saw the prices of gas and diesel slashed by 5.7 cents and 5.3 cents per litre, respectively, during that time.

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However, the latest extension is set to expire at the end of the year, and the non-profit organization warns prices will climb higher, especially so given that the federal carbon tax grows each year.

At a news conference in front of Queen’s Park in Toronto on Monday, CTF’s Ontario Director Jay Goldberg called on Premier Doug Ford to extend the tax cut in perpetuity and pushed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do away with the carbon tax.

“The Ford government has been doing some good things for the last two years to lower costs, but that’s going to be dwarfed out completely by Ottawa if the carbon tax continues to ramp up at the pace that it’s ramping up and we are calling, not only for it to be stopped, but for it to be scrapped,” he said.

CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg speaks in front of Queen's Park on Aug. 12, 2024.

According to the CTF, Ontarians pay 56 cents per lite in taxes when they fill up, 17.6 cents of which is earmarked for the carbon tax at $80 a tonne. However, as the carbon tax is set to increase to $170 per tonne by 2030, Goldberg estimates that will bring total gas prices north of $2 a litre.

“That’s going to mean that gas taxes alone will be at a $1.04 and you could be looking at gas prices nearing $2.50 a litre without change,” he said, noting that Ontario currently has the fourth lowest gas tax burden in Canada.

Premier Ford has long been opposed to the carbon tax and has called the levy “awful.”

The latest federal data published in June shows that the carbon tax is expected to result in the reduction of 78 million tonnes worth of greenhouse-gas emissions by 2030.