Price of gas jumps in Okanagan on eve of carbon tax increase

If you haven’t noticed, the price of gasoline rose significantly this week.

On Tuesday, most stations in the Central Okanagan were selling fuel for $1.619 a litre.

Come Wednesday morning, that price jumped 13 cents a litre.

2:06 Gas price jump has Nova Scotian drivers frustrated

Below are the prices of gas, via GasBuddy, throughout the Southern Interior as of Thursday.

• Kamloops: $1.749 a litre
• Revelstoke: $1.799 a litre
• Salmon Arm: $1.679 a litre
• Vernon: $1.679 a litre
• Kelowna: $1.749 a litre
• Penticton: $1.749 a litre
• Osoyoos: $1.649 a litre
• Grand Forks: $1.679 a litre

And there should be another hike on Monday.

On April 1, B.C.’s carbon tax will rise from $65 a tonne to $80 a tonne. That increase will see the following rate hikes:

Gasoline

• 14.31 cents a litre to 17.61 cents a litre

Diesel

• 16.85 cents a litre to 20.74 cents a litre

Jet fuel

• 16.78 cents a litre to 20.65 cents a litre

Natural gas

• 3.32 cents a litre to 3.98 cents a litre

Those prices will rise again in 2025 and 2026.

1:53 Gas prices rise in Alberta, expected to rise more in the near future

Notably, any province with its own carbon tax, such as B.C., is exempt from the federal government’s carbon tax.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says drivers in the Lower Mainland will pay around 81 cents in taxes per litre, with drivers in the Interior paying around 67 cents in taxes per litre.

The CTF also panned the annual tax increase, saying it’s unacceptable and will make life harder for families that are scraping by.

“Driving to work or school and heating your home in the winter aren’t luxuries that the government can tax away, they’re necessities,” said said Carson Binda, B.C. director for the CTF. “David Eby needs to do the right thing and scrap this carbon tax hike.”