The Ontario government is introducing legislation to cut the gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre and the fuel tax by 5.3 cents per litre for six months beginning July 1.
Along with the elimination of licence plate renewal fees, the government expects average combined savings per household of about $465 this year.
“Ongoing supply chain challenges and geopolitical conflicts are pushing up the cost of living from gas to groceries,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance, in the news release.
Effective July 1 until Dec. 31 the gas tax rate would be cut from 14.7 cents per litre to 9 cents per litre. The fuel tax rate, which includes diesel, would be reduced from 14.3 cents per litre to 9 cents per litre. This proposed tax cut would be effective July 1, to provide the industry — including manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers — the required time to adjust their systems and business processes.
The Ontario government is also continuing to call on the federal government to cut the carbon tax, which increased to 11.05 cents per litre on gasoline and 13.41 cents per litre on diesel on April 1.
The price paid at the pump is made up of the cost of crude oil, wholesale margins, retail margins, federal excise tax, the federal carbon tax, Ontario gasoline/fuel tax and HST.
Today in Timmins, gas is about 190.9 cents per litre. The average price of gas in Ontario is 170 per litre.
With the price of gas varying between southern Ontario and Northern Ontario, Timmins MPP Gilles Bisson recently reintroduced legislation to permanently regulate gas prices across the province.
There is a provincial election June 2.
