Gas prices saw big jump at midnight, reaching two-week high

Toronto drivers looking to hit the road and escape the city this long weekend may have wanted to ensure their tank was full on Tuesday.

Gas prices in the GTA jumped seven cents at midnight — bringing the average price to 182.9 cents/litre at most stations.

The increase brings the price at the pump to a two-week high and continues the volatile trend for gas prices in July. The change marks the ninth time this month the price has fell or jumped by at least five cents in a single day.

The average price fell all the way down to 168.9 cents/litre on the weekend, marking the lowest average price since April.

Gas prices in the region hit their all-time high in June, peaking at 214.9 cents/litre.

Historical gas prices for Toronto/GTA

Experts suggest, despite some fluctuations, the cost of fuel will continue to trend down through the remaining summer months.

Statistics Canada reported last week that a 12.0 per cent gain in gas prices helped lift sales at gasoline stations 9.2 per cent in May, even though volume terms sales at gas stations fell 2.2 per cent.

On Wednesday, the federal agency pegged the increase in the consumer price index for the month of June largely on higher gasoline prices, which shot up by more than 50 per cent compared with a year ago.

“With gasoline prices expected to fall next month, we could finally have seen peak inflation,” said CIBC senior economist Karyne Charbonneau.

Douglas Porter, chief economist at the Bank of Montreal, said he’s expecting a nine percent drop in gasoline prices in July which should provide some relief to Canada’s inflation rate, which stood at 8.1 per cent last month.

With files from John Marchesan