Pay up: Alberta's fuel tax rates won't change all summer

Summer and road trip season is upon us, and if you were hoping to save some coin, that won’t be the case with Alberta’s fuel tax relief amount remaining as is for the next few months.

Alberta’s tax on fuel was fully reinstated to 13 cents per litre on April 1, after it sat at 9 cents per litre since January.

The Province says the tax rates for gasoline and diesel are adjusted quarterly, with the most recent review happening on Canada Day based on the average price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil.

The provincial government says that the tax will be suspended whenever prices are at or above $90, and a partial fuel tax of 4.5 cents per litre will be applied whenever prices are $85 to $89.99.

Whenever prices are $80 to $84.99, a partial fuel tax of 9 cents per litre will be applied, and the fuel tax will be fully reinstated whenever prices fall below $80.

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In an email to Daily Hive, the Province said that any changes to fuel tax rates for July 1 require the price of oil to be over $80 for 20 days between mid-May and mid-June.

“As the average price of oil was not above $80 (the average was around $77) in the requisite period, fuel tax rates will not change in the next quarter,” said Justin Brattinga, senior press secretary for the Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance.

Alberta first paused taxes on fuel in April 2022 and slowly reintroduced the cost back to consumers beginning in January 2023.

The next scheduled quarterly adjustment for the fuel tax rates will be on October 1.

Let’s hope Albertans can somehow see lower prices at the pump as we dive into the summer months — we’ve got tons of things for you to check out!