AVERAGE GASOLINE PRICE IN CANADA HITS ALL-TIME HIGH OF $2 A LITRE

Gasoline prices are showing no signs of letting up as the average price in Canada tops $2 a litre for the first time, upping the appeal of getaway spots closer to home.

Natural Resources Canada says the average price across the country for regular gasoline hit $2.06 a litre on Monday for an all-time high.

The average was a nine-cent jump from the $1.97-a-litre record set last week, and is up about 30 cents a litre since midApril.

Prices averaged about $2.34 a litre in Vancouver on Monday, while in Toronto the average was almost $2.09 a litre. Edmonton, in contrast, averaged just under $1.69 a litre.

Gasoline prices have been elevated since late February when oil spiked to around US$100 a barrel after Russia invaded Ukraine, while the price jumped to more than US$110 a barrel last week.

Prices have also been spiking more recently as the reopening of the economy, and the start of the busy travel season, have led to high demand for gasoline that refiners have limited capacity to meet.

With long road trips costlier than ever, Canadians are eyeing more regional destinations as tourism operators double down on the domestic market.

Vancouver-based Discover Canada Tours has ramped up its one-day tour offerings in British Columbia. “We’re expanding to North Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. So for people that may have come, we’re taking them a little further afield. And then also Vancouver, Victoria – those are tours that we didn’t run before,” marketing manager Elyse Mailhot said.

Adding to the pocketbook strain is the ballooning price of diesel, which fuels most semi trucks and factors into the cost of consumer goods.

Diesel’s average price rose to $2.27 a litre Monday, a 54-percent jump from $147.1 a litre at the start of the year, according to Natural Resources Canada.

Canada remains the top destination for Canadians in 2022, but even more so than in prepandemic years, Association of Canadian Travel Agencies president Wendy Paradis said.