Gas prices tumble across B.C. as carbon tax lifted in late-night legislative session

Andrew Kurjata · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 2:52 PM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Gas prices crossed B.C. person seen a crisp decline after the user c taxation was lifted successful the aboriginal hours of April 1.

B.C. was the archetypal jurisdiction successful North America to present wide c pricing done a user taxation successful 2008. The argumentation was fashionable for years, surviving left- and right-leaning governments.

But Premier David Eby says it became "toxic," pursuing years of "axe the tax" campaigning from some national and provincial Conservatives, and helium vowed to bash distant with it erstwhile the national authorities introduced the means to bash so. 

It each came to a caput successful a late-night legislative league that started Monday and stretched into Tuesday greeting arsenic 3rd and last speechmaking of the measure was passed.

Eby said helium expected state prices to autumn by astir 17 cents a litre Tuesday, and though it took immoderate time, by mid-morning it had happened, according to online state pricing aggregates similar Gas Buddy and Gas Wizard.

Prices shown connected the sites arsenic of 11 a.m. PT scope from arsenic debased arsenic $1.32 astatine a presumption successful Penticton to $1.77 successful North Vancouver.

Some consumers had noted a spike successful prices successful the days starring up to the repeal of the c tax, and Eby says the province's utilities committee has the authorization to uncover terms gouging.

WATCH | Are state prices really dropping?: 

In an interrogation with CBC's The Early Edition, B.C. Utilities Commission seat and CEO Mark Jaccard noted that prices for gas fluctuate seasonally owed to changes successful refinery production.

"[Prices] spell up arsenic we caput toward the summertime arsenic refineries power from making little heating lipid and much gasoline ... truthful those benignant of prices fluctuate implicit the year," helium said, adding the committee will monitor the marketplace to find whether state companies are passing connected savings from the removal of the tax to costumers. 

Eby has said that moving forward, B.C. volition absorption its clime efforts connected targeting concern emitters and encouraging the adoption of low-carbon technology.

In the constricted legislative statement astir the repeal, the Conservative Party of B.C. focused connected the abbreviated timeline to sermon the alteration and called connected the state to perpetrate to not hampering manufacture done immoderate different punitive pricing astir carbon.

Meanwhile, the B.C. Greens accidental they interest astir the effect connected biology efforts and little earners. 

B.C. Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote said helium wants to cognize however authorities intends to resoluteness issues, including the extremity of the clime enactment taxation rebate that B.C. residents had travel to expect connected a quarterly ground and the important fiscal shortfall the extremity of the taxation leaves for the province, estimated to beryllium astir $1.5 billion.

"We don't see that gathering the convenience of substance producers oregon aligning with different provinces is capable grounds for urgency," Valeriote told the legislature.