‘Chaos’ reported at gas stations ahead of huge price hike in Ontario

Drivers scrambled to fill up their tanks ahead of an expected price hike at the pumps in Ontario.

Dan McTeague, the president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, predicted both Ontario and Quebec would see a 14 cent per litre price increase overnight Thursday.

In Mississauga, prices went from 165.9 on Wednesday to 179.9 today (April 18).

The price hike was attributed to the switch over from winter to summer gas formulas, unrest in the Middle East and the federal carbon tax hike on April 1.

It appears people responded by going out to fill up on Wednesday night, before the price hike, according to a post on the Mississauga Reddit.

“It’s complete chaos at every gas station right now,” the post reads. “I went to go fill up and went to 3 close by gas stations and each one was so packed they were backed up onto the road creating huge traffic.”

Others found huge lines at Costco.

“Was just at the Costco on Dixie and dundas and was losing my mind. Couldn’t believe how much it was backed up,” one person wrote.

“Pretty sure saw a guy vacuuming his Tesla laughing at me fill 100$ of gas,” another wrote.

There were similar posts on X from gas stations across southern Ontario.

“Every gas station I’ve driven by has line ups on to the road as people fill up before the new carbon tax kicks in,” one person from Ottawa wrote on X last night. “The fact that so many people are concerned about an extra handful of dollars per tank of gas is concerning.”

One post shows a huge line at a Waterloo Region gas station after 10 p.m.

Gas stations are busy across #MississaugaLakeshore as prices are expected to increase by about 14 cents/litre at midnight. Please consider filling up your tank tonight. ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/24KwHfV0Qf

— Rudy Cuzzetto 🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@RudyCuzzetto) April 18, 2024

Many people argued that waiting in a huge line for gas was a waste of time.

“Look unless you driving a tanker your tank is max 60L, you want to wait hours to save $6 that’s on you. For me I’ll pay the convenience price,” one person wrote on Reddit.

And it looks like gas prices will go down, at least by a little bit before the weekend.

On his website Gas Wizard, McTeague predicts prices will drop five cents to 174.9 cents on Friday (April 19).

Lead photo: Rudy Cuzzetto