Who really benefits from Canada’s gas tax holiday?

Canada’s federal gas tax holiday saves the average family $276 over about a year, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, but families in the top income fifth save $468 while those in the bottom fifth save $132. Ottawa suspended the excise tax of 10 cents a litre on gasoline and four cents on diesel on April 20 and has extended the pause to Jan. 31, 2027, with a half rate in February and March and the full tax back on April 1. In its Oct. 8 update, the PBO put the cost at $4.9 billion this fiscal year and found the top fifth receives about 34 per cent of the savings. As a share of income, lower-income families gain slightly more. The estimates assume the full cut reaches the pump. Statistics Canada says gasoline prices were 22.8 per cent higher in August than a year earlier. The finance minister’s office, the Conservatives, the NDP and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation each set out their positions.

Sources: Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO Update: Temporarily suspending the federal fuel excise tax (Oct. 8, 2026) and assessment of the Spring Economic Update fuel excise tax suspension (May 4, 2026); Department of Finance Canada, news release (Sept. 2, 2026) and Bill C-38, Canadian Fuel Affordability Act; Statistics Canada, Consumer Price Index, August 2026 (The Daily, Sept. 14, 2026) and table 18-10-0004-01; The Canadian Press via Global News (Oct. 8, 2026); Jim Stanford, Centre for Future Work (Sept. 2, 2026). Charts drawn by Canada News Media from these figures; the savings-as-a-share-of-income figures are our own calculation from PBO averages and income thresholds. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited in the video.

Read our coverage: PBO: fuel tax pause favours higher-income families; Gas tax holiday extension will cost Ottawa $5.3 billion: here’s the math behind the number; Canada’s gas tax holiday extended to Jan. 31, 2027, but diesel users get less than half the relief; Poilievre pitches diesel tax cuts through July 2027; Gas prices could rise 10 cents by Thanksgiving, expert says.