Canadian New Year's Resolution: Save by Filling up on the Best Day of the Week to Buy Gas, According to New GasBuddy Study

December 17, 2019

From Nova Scotia to British Columbia, GasBuddy publishes best days to fill-up to save money ahead of the new year

REGINA, Saskatchewan — Canadians will have collectively spent more than $54 billion this year on gas, and with the new year just around the corner, GasBuddy, the smartphone app helping consumers avoid paying full price for fuel, today released a new study that found the best and worst days of the week to buy gas to maximize savings in 2020. 

Best Day To Buy Gas: Tuesday

GasBuddy analyzed gas price data from the period of Jan. 1 - Dec. 3, 2019 and found that the second day of the work week offers the lowest average gas price in 5 of the 10 major provinces, making Tuesday the best day to fill-up. Friday has the most expensive average price of any other day of the week, being the most expensive day to fill up in 3 provinces and the least expensive in none of the provinces.

“Canadians driving habits requires filling up every week or so, making fuel a rather pricey expense over the course of an entire year, ” says Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “By buying gas on the cheapest day instead of the most expensive day of the week, Canadians can collectively bring down their expenses by timing their purchases to the lowest price day of the week- a simple yet noticeable change in behavior that can add up.” 

The province with the highest average prices for the year is British Columbia at 132.4c/L, while the province with the lowest average prices is Alberta at 108.4c/L. 

GasBuddy offers additional tips to save money on gasoline on every fill-up:

  • It Pays to Shop Around: Gas prices can vary as much as 20c per litre in the same neighborhood. Shopping around for the best gas price in the free GasBuddy app can save time and money. 
  • Watch for Winter Weather: Fuel efficiency can decrease by as much as 35% in substandard road conditions involving snow, rain, salt and sand. 
  • Speeding is Expensive: As your speed increases, your aerodynamic drag increases in an exponential fashion. Driving 100 km/h vs 120 km/h will reduce fuel consumption by about 15%.

Individual insights for each province can be found here

Methodology

To find the cheapest and most expensive days to buy gas, GasBuddy analysed gas price data from the GasBuddy app by province from Jan. 1 - Dec. 3, 2019.   

About GasBuddy

GasBuddy's mission is to help consumers avoid paying full price for fuel. As the leading source for crowdsourced, real-time fuel prices at more than 150,000 gas station convenience stores in the U.S., Canada and Australia, millions of drivers use the GasBuddy app and website every day to find gas station convenience stores based on fuel prices, location and ratings/reviews. GasBuddy’s first-of-its-kind fuel savings program, Pay with GasBuddy, has saved Americans more than $10 million at the pumps since its launch in 2017. The company’s business solutions suite, GasBuddy Business Pages, provides Fuel Marketers and Retailers their best opportunity to maintain their station information, manage their brand, and promote to their target consumer audience. For more information, visit https://www.gasbuddy.com.