Competition Bureau

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Gas prices

Many Canadians who contact the Competition Bureau have questions concerning gasoline pricing. This site contains answers to frequently asked questions, as well as information about the many Bureau activities concerning gasoline and other petroleum products.

Some Basic Facts

The Competition Bureau is responsible for the administration of the Competition Act, which includes provisions against price fixing, price maintenance and abusive behaviour by a dominant firm, among others. All of its provisions apply to gasoline and other petroleum products markets.

The Act does not provide the Bureau with the power to regulate prices. In fact, the federal government does not have the constitutional power to enact legislation to regulate the retail price of gasoline except in a national emergency. The constitutional power to regulate retail gasoline prices rests with the provincial governments.

The Bureau does not possess up-to-the-minute information on all developments in the world-wide petroleum industry. It is not the Bureau's mandate to conduct ongoing economic research and analysis of developments in the petroleum sector of the economy. The Bureau commences an investigation when it becomes aware of suspicious activities which may be in conflict with the provisions of the Act.

Persons wishing to obtain information or data on the industry can obtain it through a number of public and private sources, some of which are listed in Links to Gasoline Related Web Sites.