Canada vs USA gas prices
Gas is $0.47 a gallon cheaper in the United States — C$0.17 a litre — once both are converted to the same currency and unit.
These two figures are not the same age. Statistics Canada publishes monthly, roughly three weeks in arrears, so the Canadian number describes June 2026. The American number is the EIA’s weekly average for 2026-07-27. The conversion between them is exact; the comparison is approximate, and the gap today will not be exactly the one shown.
Border crossings, city by state
The national comparison is the wrong one for anyone actually near the line. This is what the gap looks like at each crossing, with both sides converted to US dollars per gallon.
| Canadian city | US state | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| MontréalHighgate Springs, ~1½ hours | Vermont | $0.62$9.25/fill |
| MontréalLacolle–Champlain, ~1 hour | New York | $0.60$9.03/fill |
| ReginaNorth Portal–Portal, ~2½ hours | North Dakota | $0.59$8.91/fill |
| Thunder BayPigeon River, ~1 hour | Minnesota | $0.57$8.58/fill |
| Saint JohnSt. Stephen–Calais, ~1½ hours | Maine | $0.52$7.85/fill |
| WinnipegEmerson–Pembina, ~1 hour | North Dakota | $0.41$6.08/fill |
| VancouverPeace Arch / Pacific Highway, ~45 min | Washington | $0.31$4.61/fill |
| TorontoNiagara / Queenston, ~1½ hours | New York | $0.24$3.53/fill |
| Ottawa-GatineauOgdensburg–Prescott, ~1 hour | New York | $0.22$3.24/fill |
| Victoriavia ferry to Port Angeles or Anacortes | Washington | $0.20$3.07/fill |
| TorontoWindsor–Detroit, ~4 hours | Michigan | $0.10$1.46/fill |
| CalgaryCoutts–Sweetgrass, ~3½ hours | Montana | $0.08$1.20/fill |
Vermont
North Dakota
Maine
Michigan
MontanaWhy the gap is what it is
Canada and the United States buy gasoline on the same continental market — much of the crude behind both comes from the same Alberta and Gulf Coast production. The pre-tax cost of the fuel is close to identical. What separates the pumps is what each government adds:
- Federal excise, both countries. The US charges $0.18 a gallon, unchanged since 1993. Canada charges a federal excise tax per litre on top of which provincial tax is layered.
- Sales tax on the taxed price. This is the structural difference. GST or HST applies to the pump price *including* the excise and provincial fuel taxes — tax charged on tax. No US state does this to motor fuel in the same way.
- Transit levies.Metro Vancouver, Greater Montréal and Victoria add a regional levy earmarked for transit. Metro Vancouver’s is the heaviest in North America and is why Vancouver sits at the top of the Canadian table.
The American side of that arithmetic is published in full on our state gas tax page. For the heaviest-taxed US state the total is $1.08 a gallon — still well below the Canadian burden once GST is counted.
We do not yet publish a per-province Canadian tax breakdown, so the Canadian side of this section is described rather than quantified. Adding federal excise, provincial fuel tax, transit levies and GST/HST as a sourced dataset is the next thing this page needs.
The extremes on each side
Cheapest: Edmonton at C$1.55/L ($4.17/gal).
Dearest: Vancouver at C$2.02/L ($5.43/gal).
Cheapest: Texas at $3.60/gal (C$1.33/L).
Dearest: California at $5.66/gal (C$2.10/L).
Even the most expensive US state undercuts most Canadian cities once converted — the comparison that surprises people most.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
Is gas cheaper in Canada or the United States?
The United States, and by a wide margin. Converting both to the same currency and unit, Canadian regular gasoline works out at $4.57 per US gallon against $4.10 in the US — a difference of $0.47 a gallon, or C$0.17 a litre. Note the two figures are measured on different schedules: the Canadian one is a Statistics Canada monthly average for June 2026, the American one an EIA weekly average for 2026-07-27.
Why is gas so much more expensive in Canada?
Almost entirely tax. Canada levies a federal excise tax plus a provincial fuel tax, and then charges GST or HST on the total — sales tax applied on top of the excise tax. Several metropolitan areas add a transit levy as well; Metro Vancouver's is the largest in the country, which is why Vancouver is consistently the most expensive place to buy fuel in Canada. American federal and state taxes are a fraction of that, and no US state charges sales tax on the full taxed price the way HST does.
Should I fill up before crossing the border into Canada?
Yes, if you are driving north. On the biggest gap in the table above — Montréal against Vermont — filling a 15-gallon tank on the US side saves about $9.25. Canadian customs places no restriction on fuel in your vehicle's own tank; jerry cans are a different matter and are subject to transport rules.
Are these two numbers measured the same way?
No, and it matters. Statistics Canada publishes city averages once a month, about three weeks after the month ends, so the Canadian figure describes June 2026. The EIA and AAA publish American averages weekly and daily. We convert both to the same currency and unit so the comparison is arithmetically sound, but the Canadian side is the older measurement, and in a fast-moving market the true gap today will differ from the one shown here.
How do you convert litres to gallons?
One US gallon is 3.7854 litres. Currency conversion uses the European Central Bank reference rates for 2026-07-31, which today give 1.4041 Canadian dollars to the US dollar. Both legs of that cross-rate come from the same daily fix, so the conversion is internally consistent.