A longtime gas industry analyst says the move to cleaner, low-carbon fuel could cost you as much as 10 cents more for every litre.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer promised Monday to back off plans for new clean-fuel standards if his party forms government this fall
The standards would create cleaner-burning fuels and reduce emissions through the production process. It would be a step to help Canada towards the goal of lowering carbon by 30 million tonnes a year.
Scheer predicts the transition would tack four cents onto every litre of gas.
Dan McTeague, senior petroleum analyst with GasPriceWizard.com believes the added cost would be in the range of five to 10 cents a litre when the standards are expected to roll out in 2022.
"It really does suggest that the government is going to have to take a much more considered approach I think than trying to achieve an objective--which in a carbon-intensive resource-intensive nation like Canada, in which its wealth and economic its well-being is based, may be a bridge too far," McTeague tells NEWSTALK 1010
Liberal MP Sean Fraser said Tuesday that it would be premature for the government to say how the standards will affect gasoline prices, as consultations on how the policy will be implemented are still underway.
Fraser, who is parliamentary secretary to the environment minister, held a press conference to counter Conservative rhetoric against the fuel standard and against the Trudeau government's environmental policies more generally.
While Fraser says the new clean-fuel standard is not the "secret fuel tax" Scheer has branded it, he won't say how much it might affect prices at the pumps.
Fraser says regulations on the standards are still being discussed with provinces, territories and the public and this input could lead to "tweaks" to ensure prices remain affordable for all Canadians.
with files from Siobhan Morris/NEWSTALK 1010 and the Canadian Press