Alberta is nowhere close to being the province that buys the most gasoline

Alberta may be seen as the oil and gas province of Canada, but when it comes to gasoline sales, another province takes the top spot.

Statistics Canada has released its data on motor vehicle fuel sales and found that the demand for motor vehicle fuels continued to increase in 2023, with gross sales of gasoline in Canada rising 2.6% from 2022 to 43.6 billion litres. In 2023, fuel sales reached 97.3% of their 2019 level (44.8 billion litres) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alberta came in third for the most gross gasoline sales in Canada, with 6.3 billion litres, an increase of 0.8% in 2023. Quebec led the pack at 9.2 billion litres, an increase of 5%, with Ontario following behind with an increase of 2.5% and 16.2 billion litres.

When you include BC’s total,  the four largest provinces accounted for more than 80% of gross sales of gasoline in Canada.

StatCan added that a notable increase was also seen in Nova Scotia, with gross sales of gasoline growing 12.8% (+159.3 million litres) in 2023, the highest rate of increase observed across all provinces.

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A drop in gasoline sales in some provinces can also be attributed to registrations of new zero-emission vehicles, which averaged 2% of all new registrations from 2017 to 2019 and had jumped to 11.0% of the total by 2023. In addition, while more Canadians returned to the workplace, many did so on a hybrid basis, continuing to work some days from home.

If you were curious, a recent survey found that the majority of Alberta drivers believe their driving is better than other motorists on the road.