Gas prices expected to hit $1.60 per litre in Vancouver this weekend

Gas prices in Vancouver are approaching record highs, just as the province announced legislation that is expected to raise fuel taxes next year.

Heading into the long weekend, prices averaged 1.55 per litre in Vancouver on Thursday, with many stations charging just under 1.58 per lite.

The record high was set in mid-April when average prices hovered around 1.58. Some stations charged more than 1.60, according to GasBuddy.com.

Dan McTeague, an analyst with GasBuddy, told CTV Vancouver that “for now, it looks like these high prices are here to stay.”

McTeague said that the prices are a result of “the market digesting higher oil and gasoline prices due to heavy demand and limited supply.”

Meanwhile, B.C. Municipal Affairs Minister Selina Robinson said Thursday that the province will bring in legislation allowing Metro Vancouver to increase the fuel tax by up to 1.5 cents per litre next spring.

Robinson said that if mayors in the region can identify other sources of money to fund public transit like the Broadway SkyTrain in Vancouver and light rail in Surrey, then they won’t have to raise the tax.

With files from The Canadian Press

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  FILE -- The price of a litre of gasoline of $1.579, an all-time high for the city, is displayed on a sign as motorists fuel up at a Shell gas station in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday April 22, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)