Canadians Expect to Pay More for Gas This Summer

Drivers in Canada expect to pay more when they fill up at the gas pump this summer.

Almost 80 % of Canadians expect gasoline prices to rise by 10 to 20 cents per litre or more over the summer months. The price for a litre of regular gasoline averaged $1.08 across Canada.

37 % of Canadians said they've increased their consumption of the fuel over the past three years despite a more than 40 % rise in gasoline prices since 2004.

However, Canadians are beginning to contemplate changing their ways by considering the purchase of a more fuel-efficient vehicle (55 % ) or reducing their amount of driving (57 % ).

There is a way to go before gasoline hits the kind of price point that will cause consumers to fundamentally change their driving habits.

In Canada, that's probably somewhere around the $1.60 per litre level.

Canada supplies all its domestic needs for gasoline. In the survey, however, only 15 % of respondents believed that 70 % or more of gasoline was supplied domestically.

Meanwhile, consumption of gasoline for all types of motor vehicles slipped in 2005 for only the second time in a decade.

In 2005, Canadian drivers consumed an estimated 39.8 billion litres of gasoline, a 1.4 per cent decline from the 40.3 billion litres in 2004.

Consumption declined in all provinces expect for Prince Edward Island and Alberta.