{"id":538480,"date":"2026-03-15T18:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/538480\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T18:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T18:24:09","slug":"montreal-drivers-facing-some-of-the-highest-gas-prices-in-quebec-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/538480\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal drivers facing some of the highest gas prices in Quebec, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montreal motorists are grappling with some of the steepest fuel costs in the province, with prices on Sunday climbing toward 187.9 cents a litre, well above levels reported earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

According to Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy (CAE), gas prices in Montreal were hovering between $1.75 and $1.77 per litre earlier in the week \u2014 higher than in many smaller Quebec cities, where lower provincial taxes and local competition help keep prices below Montreal levels.<\/p>\n

\"\"A price of 187.9\u202fcents per litre is shown on a gas station sign in Montreal on March\u202f15,\u202f2026, as fuel costs remain high. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Global tensions and local taxes push prices higher<\/p>\n

Experts point to a combination of global market pressures, local taxes, and operational costs at gas stations as the reason Montreal residents are paying more.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately for people, gas prices are not really decided in Quebec,\u201d said Nicolas Ryan, director of public affairs at CAA\u2011Qu\u00e9bec. \u201cWe\u2019re currently seeing a situation where we have a geopolitical situation, and the impact is felt everywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan emphasized that while gas stations are making a profit, current margins are not unusually high. \u201cStations, whether it\u2019s in Montreal or elsewhere in Quebec, they\u2019re not taking a huge margin out of the pocket of people. The costs they\u2019re paying currently themselves to buy that litre of a gas before selling it to a consumer, they\u2019re not taking a huge margin out of the pocket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"A gas pump at a Montreal station on March 15, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Higher taxes and operating costs in Montreal<\/p>\n

McTeague said that part of the reason Montreal\u2019s gas prices tend to be higher is due to local levies not applied in other regions. He pointed out that Montreal drivers pay an additional roughly three cents per litre for public transit, a charge not seen in many smaller cities and towns across Quebec.<\/p>\n

He also cited higher operating costs at urban gas stations \u2014 including staff wages, electricity and fees associated with credit card transactions \u2014 as factors that can help push regional prices upward.<\/p>\n

Rising costs felt beyond the pump<\/p>\n

McTeague highlighted that recent increases in wholesale and diesel prices are being passed through to consumers, and that higher energy costs extend well beyond motorists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe price of diesel has risen, well, by Sunday, almost 57 cents a litre,\u201d McTeague said. \u201cThat kind of a 20 to 25 per cent increase in the price of a commodity that\u2019s used for jet fuel, that\u2019s used for our transport system, that is used for home heating fuel \u2014 it makes its way throughout the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur farmers use it, our miners use it, our forestry industry uses it\u2026 Most major trucks that transport goods and process what we take for granted in this country use diesel,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is truly the global workhorse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A price of 187.9\u202fcents per litre is shown on a gas station sign in Montreal on March\u202f15,\u202f2026, as fuel costs remain high. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

McTeague said that even stations trying to keep prices low are likely to raise them, because selling fuel below cost is not sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would expect you\u2019re going to see a pretty significant jump at all stations,\u201d he said, \u201cincluding the ones that pretend that they can remain competitive when their cost, their base cost, is rising so dramatically in such a sharp period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montrealers weigh in<\/p>\n

Montreal drivers say the rising gas prices are hitting their wallets hard, and frustration is clear at the pumps. Many point to global tensions as a key factor behind the spike.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the gas prices here are so high. I think it\u2019s because of what\u2019s been going on with the US and Iran\u2026 And I think that\u2019s affecting what\u2019s been going on here and it\u2019s having kind of like a worldwide effect,\u201d said one man.<\/p>\n

He added the the sharp increases are already forcing adjustments in his daily routine and budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a student at McGill, it\u2019s going to make it hard to be able to budget towards having to go pump gas for my car because my car is a lot bigger. So it\u2019s going to be a lot more difficult trying to go and make the time to go and pump gas. Making it that the prices is 187 now. So who knows, next week it might go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A gas nozzle inserted into a car at a Montreal gas station on March 15, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n

Other drivers said the surge in prices is making even small errands more expensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. And I\u2019m putting in less so get less gas, pay more. Sucks, like a lot,\u201d said one Montrealer.<\/p>\n

Another Montrealer commented on the increase in price.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually saw a big increase. I\u2019m just feeling for my stepmom and yeah, the 91 is like 30 cents over. So I guess there\u2019s some geopolitical relations,\u201d said another man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have a car. So I just use a car like a few times a month. But I imagine it can be pretty bad for some people,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Tips for drivers trying to save<\/p>\n

With fuel costs continuing to bite, Nicolas Ryan of CAA\u2011Qu\u00e9bec offered practical tips for drivers looking to reduce consumption. He noted that on highways, keeping speeds at the legal limit of 100\u202fkm\/h rather than driving 20\u202fkm\/h faster can cut fuel use by roughly 20\u202fper cent. In the city, he said avoiding the use of air conditioning and rolling down windows at low speeds can also reduce fuel consumption by up to 20\u202fper cent.<\/p>\n

\"\"A person fills up at a Montreal gas station on March 15, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n

Still cheaper than some other Canadian cities<\/p>\n

While Montreal\u2019s prices are high compared with many parts of Quebec, McTeague noted they remain slightly lower than in some parts of western Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re paying in Vancouver where the price there ranges from $1.85 to $1.90,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite that, McTeague said drivers across the country are watching fuel costs closely.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of this, people have good reason to be concerned,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause it\u2019s how much money is going to be coming out of their wallet next month.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal motorists are grappling with some of the steepest fuel costs in the province, with prices on Sunday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-538480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}