Two neighbouring provinces have one thing that sets them apart — their gas prices.
Saskatchewan’s gas prices average $1.55 per litre, while Manitoba is currently the cheapest province for fuelling up at $1.41 per litre.
Regina resident Daniel Hebert is a regular commuter who travels to Winnipeg for work every week. He fills up his tank in Manitoba before returning to Saskatchewan.
“You just know that the difference when you’re filling up a pickup truck is a meal. It’s lunch money,” he said. “Right now, when everything else has gone so much higher … having a gas price difference means that you automatically fill up in Manitoba because it’s buying your food for two days. You’d be crazy to fill up in Saskatchewan.”
Manitoba’s gas tax holiday was due to expire on July 1, but in the 2024 budget, the government announced a three-month extension until the end of September.
Lori Carr, the Saskatchewan Minister of Highways, said that all the proceeds collected from the fuel tax in Saskatchewan go directly into the provincial highways budget.
“Our highways budget this year was $741 million and we collect about $550 million from the fuel tax,” said Carr. “We put more dollars into our highways than we collect on fuel tax. And that’s where those dollars go as well.”
— with files from Jenelle Lippai