‘It’s pretty high’: Gas prices hitting Winnipeggers at the pumps

Daniel Halmarson reports on the reason for higher prices Manitobans are paying at the pumps.

Winnipeg drivers are taking notice of how much they’re paying at the pumps these days.

“I paid a $1.50 a litre for some gas today. It’s pretty high, but hopefully, it comes down soon,” a motorist leaving a Lindenwoods gas station told CTV News Thursday. “It’s a harsh reality, but you got to pay the price.”

According to gasbuddy.com, the average price in Winnipeg hovered around $1.50 per litre Thursday. That’s nearly seven-cents higher than prices at the beginning of January, and 33-cents higher than the average price on February 6 last year.

“You had no provincial sales tax this time last year, you didn’t have an increase of four-cents-per-litre on the carbon tax, and you had a Canadian dollar that was a lot stronger,” Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, told CTV News.

Manitobans enjoyed a year-long break from paying a 14-cent-per-litre provincial fuel tax in 2024. It was a campaign promise by Premier Wab Kinew to help ease the impact of inflation and the rising cost of living.

The holiday ended when the calendar flipped over to 2025 with the fuel tax was reinstated at a clip of 12.5-cents-per-litre.

“Everyone loves the fact they can save money, but not so happy when [taxes] have to be restored,” McTeague said. “A lot of that money goes into general revenues to pay for other programs. So, unless the province wanted to run serious debts, there’s no way they could do that.”

McTeague added gas stations are also partially responsible for the reason rise in fuel prices.

“You’re paying a $1.52 to a $1.56 today. It costs gas stations about a $1.43 just to buy the fuel before they can turn on their pumps,” McTeague explained. “Unfortunately, there isn’t enough profit margin on water, beef jerky, or coffee, which they often sell in their own [convenience] stores to make up the difference.”

McTeague warns gas prices will likely rise even higher in the coming months thanks to the federal carbon tax, the shift from winter to summer blend gasoline, and other several factors.