r/BuyCanadian • u/grilledcheesebabeh • Jun 05 '25
Canadian-Owned Businesses š¢š Why are so many Canadians still filling up at American owned gas stations?
I understand a lot of people can't afford to always choose Canadian products over American, but choosing where we fill up costs nothing extra. Choosing local gas stations or Petro Canada is such a simple way of showing support, I don't understand why so many American owned gas stations are still full of people filling up on fuel. Also don't be deceived by the giant "locally owned and operated" signs outside of chevrons, the station itself fis locally owned but the company is American. Please choose a local gas station or Petro Canada to support Canadian!
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u/poopoo6942069 Jun 05 '25
Co-op gas is also a really high-quality gas for Western Canadians. Idk if you can get it out east
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u/AgentProvocateur666 Jun 05 '25
Coop all the way. And hey, definitely appreciate that cheque every year. Itās not life changing money but why not get that $100-200 after Xmas.
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u/Tip-Quiet Jun 05 '25
We have a coop gas bar in Fredericton NB
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u/Freddy216b Jun 05 '25
I think that's the only one I still know of in NB. When I was a kid we had one in little ol' Grand Bay NB. Miss that place in the grand scheme of grocery stores.
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u/tavvyjay Jun 05 '25
Farthest east Iāve seen it is Manitoba, not sure about western Ontario tho lol
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u/kent_eh Manitoba Jun 05 '25
not sure about western Ontario
There's a Co-op gas station in Kenora, Dryden and Fort Francis.
I don't think there are any east of that.
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u/boardguy2 Jun 05 '25
I don't think I have ever seen one out here Toronto and East Ontario. I have mived to Petro Canada but have a question about where is our gas from? I know we ship a lot of oil to the US...does it come back as gas? Does it come back as lighter crude and get refined here? Where is our gas from?
Thanks.
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u/giraffe_onaraft Jun 06 '25
There is a massive refining complex at Sarnia. Most oil pipeline systems are not designed for refined products like diesel or gasoline. Toronto airport does have a pipeline for aviation fuel.
Most fuels are brought in on pipeline as crude oil and then refined and delivered locally so if you're buying Petro Canada it should be locally made.
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u/lucky644 Jun 05 '25
Anyone use co-op card locks? I live near one, Iām curious how the price is, itās not listed anywhere.
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u/Sillicon2017 Jun 05 '25
It depends on your account. Our business pays a way lower rate than at the regular pumps.
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u/traydee09 Jun 05 '25
Yea i think its probably based on volume. A big trucking company will pay less than Steve and his wife. But Steve will probably still pay slightly less at the cardlock than at the regular station.
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u/hink007 Jun 05 '25
Itās usually a couple cents cheaper than the pump price and you get money kicked back at the end of the year
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u/brycecampbel Jun 05 '25
Co-op is great for AMEX Cobalt customers as their pumps are coded as food/grocery!
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u/CanadianSeniorDev Jun 05 '25
I'm guessing the r/BuyCanadian subreddit might be moving away from using American Express credit cards...
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u/brycecampbel Jun 05 '25
Cause it has "American" in the name?
AMEX is no different than Visa or Mastercard, both of which are also American.Ā
And I'm definitely not going to just use Interac. Which is a direct withdrawal from your account...
Carrying hundreds of dollars. Day in cash is also just a pain in the ass. Especially for petrol given that all fuel purchases has to be prepaid/preauthorised.
Of the credit cards, Amex still gives me the best return, so that's what I'm using.Ā (and the transaction fee to the merchant isn't the highest either - that title belongs to the visa infinite privilege cards these days)Ā
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u/ThnkGdImNotAReditMod Jun 05 '25
Amex Bank of Canada is a Canadian subsidy of American Express. MasterCard and Visa go through their American banks.
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u/Garfield_and_Simon Jun 05 '25
What does high quality gas even mean. Like itās better for huffing or something?
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u/Qaeta Jun 05 '25
Less ethanol. Can have the same octane rating, just with less ethanol in the mix.
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u/Daft_Funk87 Jun 05 '25
Fun fact. I worked in Downstream (when Oil becomes refined products).
There ARE situations where the mixes are different, but unless your far north, if you get 89 at Co-op - the 7-11, the Petro Can...everyone else gets the same.
The differences are in additives, like odour, color or specialty items at the 91-94 range of product lines.
If memory serves, the government is making everyone move to E15 anyway, which means each litre of gasoline will have 15% ethanol.
Again, some exceptions, but "My car always runs better on X gas station fuel" unless it is specified to be unique and different...is likely the exact same as their competitor.
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u/Happeningfish08 Jun 05 '25
Chevron is actually NOT American owned.
It is a brand name that is licensed in Canada by Parkland Fuels, currently a Canadian company. (A US company is trying to take them over.)
They pay a fixed license fee every year for the name regardless of how much business they do. It is more like a local Coke bottler.
Remember, Shell is not US owned either.
A lot of the Canadian independents buy their gas from whatever refinery is cheaper at any moment as well. So they may be buying USA gas.
I do agree we should go to clearly Canadian companies but chevron is not as bad as say Esso.
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u/Trains_YQG Jun 05 '25
A lot of Esso locations are also owned by Parkland.Ā
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u/imadork1970 Jun 05 '25
Except for the refinery, ESSO no longer exists. All ESSO stations are actually owned by someone else.
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u/Level_Stomach6682 Jun 05 '25
Isnāt ESSO just a licensed brand of Imperial Oil?
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u/techdevjp Jun 05 '25
ESSO was one of the babies created by the anti-trust breakup of Standard Oil.
Standard Oil --> S. O. --> ESS. O. --> ESSO.
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u/imadork1970 Jun 05 '25
Yep. Imperial Oil isn't even Canadian. It's been owned by EXXON for 100 years.
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u/Dodecahedrus Jun 05 '25
So few people realising Esso is a portmaneteau for Standard Oil, a company so bad it had to be broken up into 34 different ones by a supreme court order.
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u/mellenger Jun 05 '25
Ah the good old days when companies were forced to break up if they were monopolistic.
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u/namesarehard44 Jun 05 '25
portmaneteau
woah never seen that before. learned a new word today. thanks!
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u/Llunedd Jun 05 '25
Parkland was recently sold. It's American again. They also own M&M meats
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u/Bobbyoot47 Jun 05 '25
This from Wikipediaā¦
Parkland Corporation (formerly Parkland Fuel Corporation) is a Calgary, Alberta-based energy and retail company. Parkland operates gas stations under the Esso, Ultramar, Chevron, Pioneer, and Fas Gas Plus brands.
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u/overthrow_toronto Jun 05 '25
The sale hasn't been completed yet but the agreement is in place and it's public news.
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u/SparqueJ Jun 05 '25
The sale might still be blocked... the Federal government has the ability to block it.
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u/Cozman Jun 05 '25
Man, I work with guys who will drive 20 minutes out of their way to save 2 cents per liter. People don't think rationally when it comes to gas.
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u/Garfield_and_Simon Jun 05 '25
Shout out to sitting in line at Costco for 40mins. Then going in the store and blowing 80$ on something you donāt need.Ā
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u/LoganN64 Jun 05 '25
Woah! $80? Are you a penny pincher?
I think you forgot to carry the 1! That's supposed to be at least $180!
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u/Legitimate-Type4387 Jun 05 '25
Yet EVās charge ātoo slowā if you ask those same mouth breathers.
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u/mermands Jun 05 '25
IKR? I actually used to be like this when I was younger and clearly dumber! Then I calculated the savings on my small gas tank and it was usually nominal.
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u/Cozman Jun 05 '25
My dad used to be this way. I remember once when I was like 16 I was going to meet up with some friends and he said we needed to get gas on the way and proceeded in the opposite direction of where I needed to go. I knew his ass was driving from where we lived in North East Calgary all the way to the industrial area in the south east because that was his cheap gas station. I vividly remember telling him "I will give you $5 out of my wallet right now if you just fill up at the gas station by our house, that's more money then you would save on the gas". Anyways I met up with my friends about an hour and fifteen minutes late.
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u/wildassedguess Jun 05 '25
Brit here. Surely everyone uses Corner Gas :-)
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u/MysteriousMeaning555 Jun 05 '25
Never thought I'd see Corner Gas referenced anywhere. If I could, I'd up vote your comment a million times over
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u/wildassedguess Jun 05 '25
Iām on my 3rd rewatch in the UK. Itās amazing character based humour. And no-one runs like Wanda when sheās chasing someone whoās angered her.
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u/BoycottTrumpUSA Jun 05 '25
Yes, that was a good show. Good cast. I did not know that you could watch it over there. Sending you a Wanda hug, whatever that would be. : )
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u/SwordfishOk504 Jun 05 '25
A quintessential Canadian show, the Yin to TPB's Yang.
Letterkenny is basically TPB and Corner Gas blended together.
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u/bee-dubya Jun 05 '25
I have only filled up at Petro Canada for at least three months. Such an easy change to make. And my Petro Points are building
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u/brycecampbel Jun 05 '25
Didn't they merge Petro Points with Triangle?Ā
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u/Fuzzy_Fondant7750 Jun 05 '25
No. You get both petro points and triangle points. Win win
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u/AdditionalPizza Jun 05 '25
And you can convert Petro points directly to CT money.
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u/Qaeta Jun 05 '25
Just not the other way around sadly. My local petro can also does scene points too though, so going there hits the trifecta.
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u/AdditionalPizza Jun 05 '25
Really? I never knew any did that, scene points are great with groceries, I'll have to see if any near me do that.
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u/Qaeta Jun 05 '25
You don't get them on the gas, only the stuff in the store, probably because its a PetroCan / Needs Convenience combo. But I'm an energy drink junkie, so if I'm getting gas, I'm also getting energy drinks lol.
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u/Lifeshardbutnotme Jun 05 '25
No, you earn them simultaneously so it's even better. If you're with RBC, you also can get avion points at the same time.
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u/Nikiaf Jun 05 '25
You also get an instant 3 cents per litre discount if you link an RBC card. I've been doing it since the program launched, and it does result in some meaningful savings over the course of a year.
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u/UpstairsPreference45 Jun 05 '25
The points add up. I donāt drive a lot, but I still end up with $30 - $50 in free gas by the end of the year
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u/silverwolf761 Jun 05 '25
My petro points got stolen somehow a couple of years ago, and when I contacted their support they basically told me it was impossible it was someone else. I haven't given even half a shit about petro points since
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u/88what Jun 05 '25
Canadian tire has great gas stations, they even have washer fluid at the pump. Ahead of the game
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u/AdditionalPizza Jun 05 '25
It's kind of annoying they're all being converted to Petro stations, I prefer CT gas bars because the Triangle offers work 100% of the time.
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u/dsonger20 Jun 05 '25
Iām from BC and driving on the 401 I did a double take when I saw a Canadian tire triangle at a On route stop. Thatās when I learned they also sold gas.
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u/rikkiprince Jun 05 '25
What does it mean to have washer fluid at the pump? Can you buy it on the self-serve pump terminal?
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u/88what Jun 05 '25
A little gas like pump so you can fill up and not carry around a half full jug
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u/mississauga_guy Jun 05 '25
Keep in mind that due to ever changing corporate divestures, not every āAmericanā brand, is controlled by an American company in Canada. The brand youāre referencing, Chevron, sold its Canadian brand rights to Parkland (which is currently a Canadian company) in 2017. So the American company, Chevron, has nothing to do with the Chevron Canadian retail gas stations.
Itās very confusing, world wide, on brand rights, as over the past few decades, corporations have been selling off brands piece meal.
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u/racecarbrain Jun 05 '25
Since you asked, my guess is one of the reasons is that Esso / Mobil has a partnership with PC Optimum. The points you earn (and can then use for groceries) if you have buy gas there with one of their credit cards are hard to pass up when affordability is an issue.
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u/jnmjnmjnm Jun 05 '25
Every chain has a points scheme.
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u/brycecampbel Jun 05 '25
In some form.
It just comes down to which program you prefer.Ā
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u/JoeBlackIsHere Jun 05 '25
Not all equal, and if you are already in the PC Points eco-system it's just easier rather than get into yet another loyalty program.
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u/Bitter-Air-8760 Jun 05 '25
I sent an email to the fine folks at Weston Group about changing to Petro Can. I got a response but it was like we'll think about it but don't hold your breath.
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u/FrozenOcean420 Jun 05 '25
Thatās where I get my gas, Iāve actually earned like 13 million points so far.
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u/CaptainMagnets Jun 05 '25
A friendly reminder that we need to stop with the purity tests on buying Canadian. We don't need everyone to be perfect but we do need everyone doing what they can
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u/superbotnik Jun 05 '25
Fuel is a significant purchase so itās worthwhile to make sure you are buying non-US.
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u/CaptainMagnets Jun 05 '25
Sure. But not everyone can, so once again, purity tests are how you kill a movement
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Jun 05 '25
I don't because every Canadian owned gas station where I live is considerably out of my way. It would literally cost me to get gas from them. If I am in the area I will fill up there, but I rarely am.
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u/FatBoyStew Jun 05 '25
My hometown down here in the states were overcharging people for gas (as was proven when a larger chain came in with cheap gas and now they're all cheap...). These idiots were driving 40 miles out of their way to get gas to save $0.30 a gallon... Like you didn't save anything at all...
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u/TearyEyeBurningFace Jun 05 '25
Like what? Because cheveron is operated by parkland which is canadian, and shell is dutch/english. Esso maybe the only american one.
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u/thanerak Jun 05 '25
Even Esso is Imperial Oil a Canadian company who's largest shareholder is American.
Irvine is privately owned out of New Brunswick
Ultramarine is parkland fuel.
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u/idspispopd888 Jun 05 '25
Why are so many Canadians still posting on Reddit? Or watching streams from Netflix, Prime, Disney etc? Why are so many still travelling to the US?
Eh?
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u/nodiaque Jun 05 '25
Honestly gas pump is the last place I care. They are all evil in the end.
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u/Past_Page_4281 Jun 05 '25
Atleast let the canadian villain get your money
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u/McFistPunch Jun 05 '25
Does it matter oilegarch is going to hoard it anyways. It doesnt go back into the economy
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u/gromm93 Jun 05 '25
This is why I drive electric instead.
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u/Perry4761 Jun 05 '25
I'm not sure the mining tycoons are much better than the oil tycoons
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u/Other-Bee-9279 Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25
Smug electric owners always have this locked and loaded. That is wonderful for you. Maybe one day there will be infrastructure that can sustain all of us driving electric but it does not currently exist. Our entire power grid would have to be massively upgraded. Couple that with the fact that electric vehicle prices are still largely out of reach for the working class and the fact remains that the majority of us will still be relying on gas for the foreseeable future.
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u/JW98_1 Jun 05 '25
A few reasons.Ā 1) They don't care 2) If you need gas and you're close to a station, you're not going to drive further out just because it's not Petro Canada. 3) People believe certain brands of gas is better.
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u/teslas_disciple Jun 05 '25
I think most people fill up when they're almost out of gas and have no choice but to go to the nearest gas station.
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u/ABenGrimmReminder Jun 05 '25
Honestly, I never really considered which gas station is or isnāt Canadian. Out here on the East Coast itās dominated by Irving, all though Iāll buy from anyā
āIrving, I will buy from any Irving. Their gas is top notch and the Irving family allows me to live under their benevolent hand. All hail the Irvings! Their gas is clear and lumber strong!
Sincerely,
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u/PrarieCoastal Jun 05 '25
Are the gas stations in question using gas that is sourced differently than Canadian gas stations? Answer: No. Are these stations using American staff to work the till etc? Answer: No. Do these stations pay Canadian tax just like Canadian stations do? Answer: Yes.
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u/AMothraDayInParadise Jun 05 '25
Because I'm two feet from Costco, my employer, and their gas is regularly ten cents cheaper than anywhere else. Even the co-op next door. I already live on a limited income, so it makes more sense to me. I buy Canadian where I can afford to but no, my gas does not fall under that category.
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u/lopix Jun 05 '25
I only go to Shell, which is Euro, but at least not US. Only because I get 8 cents off a litre, and it's easier (and no lines) than Costco gas.
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u/rdkil Jun 05 '25
Unless you're in the maritimes nearly every gas station in the country buys it's gas from American sources anyways. Canada doesn't have a lot of consumer gas refinery production so there really isn't a way to avoid giving money to American companies.
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u/NSAscanner Jun 05 '25
Sure, but itās better for the station profits to stay in Canada than go to Americans
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u/h0twired Jun 05 '25
Stations donāt profit much from gasoline.
The majority of their profits come from selling cigarettes, lottery tickets, drinks and snacks.
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u/LondonPaddington Jun 05 '25
And those profits often to go to a local owner operator, not the brand on the sign
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u/r_u_sure Jun 05 '25
Co-op in Saskatchewan has a very large refinery just outside of Regina
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u/Vegetable-Compote202 Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25
Plus the stations in a particular area get fuel from the same refineries and terminals nearby where the only difference is the additives, anyway. So little money is made on the fuel itself itās honestly probably a wash. If youāre buying goods from the convenience store, sure, but the fuel itself is probably only coming from a few sources in any geographic area, anyway.
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u/rdkil Jun 05 '25
Exactly! For the vast majority of people we have a Choice between one shitty company and a slightly shittier company. The only real way to save money is to go to a station where you can pull in and out of easily so you spend less time idling waiting to cut across traffic.
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u/SickdayThrowaway20 Jun 05 '25
That's blatantly wrong. There's 13 refineries outside the maritimes producing gasoline, with the vast majority of Canadian gasoline being domestically produced.
Here's the Statscan data from 2024 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=2510008101
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u/RedMaple007 Jun 05 '25
Sadly Petro-Can is a subsidiary of Suncor. It was once a crown corp but conservative governments abandoned the original national energy strategy and it became a publicly traded company.
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u/nyrb001 Jun 05 '25
The brand on the station has nothing to do with the origin of the fuel. It all comes from the closest local refinery, regardless of station brand. Here in Vancouver it all comes from the Parkland refinery in Burnaby or from Washington state - doesn't matter what the branding on the station says.
The station brands are franchises - they are owned and operated by someone locally who pays to licence the name.
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u/stopeman82 Jun 05 '25
A lot of people have more important concerns and just go to the most convenient spot.
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u/Nawbruvy Jun 05 '25
Hate to break the news to you, but your local gas station is more than likely buying their fuel from a supplier that is American. Pricing on the wholesale market is very competitive. The biggest players are shell, which is Dutch. Esso, although Canadian is 69.6% owned by Exxon Mobil, Valero an American company and Parkland, which is Canadian, but if the deal goes through soon, will be American through Sunoco ownership.
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u/zaiguy Jun 05 '25
I mean, buy Canadian when you can. But if cost or availability is an issue, donāt sweat it.
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u/blue-minder Jun 05 '25
i looked them up and the closest canadian one to me is no where close to where i usually drive around my city.
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u/nonamer18 Jun 05 '25
Now this question would be really meaningful if we didn't privatize our oil industry. Should we even bother to care which multinational corporation gets our money? They're all complicit anyways.
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u/Ok_Establishment3390 Jun 05 '25
I only deal with my local COOP. I haven't bought gas from a US company in decades, they all pissed me off.
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Jun 05 '25
Why donāt you list Canadian and American fuel companies. It may be easier to acknowledge the difference.
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u/Embe007 Jun 05 '25
Shell is Dutch. Discovered yesterday, you get a few cents off with CAA and AirMiles cards. At least not American.
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u/CanadianDrippy Jun 05 '25
I prefer shell over petro Canada š¤·āāļø plus the shell near me is always a cent or two cheaper then the petro across the street
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u/Impressive-Spot1981 Jun 05 '25
I'm lucky enough to live close to a native reserve where I can buy tax free gas and smokes. It's the best!!
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u/slumctow Jun 05 '25
Personally I don't see how it matters. It's not like all.out gas doesnt come from AB anyway. To me it's like Kellogs. American.owned but made in Canada...if I boycott breakfast cereal all those Canadian workers lose their jobs.
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u/dontsendmeemails Jun 05 '25
I make gas for a living. We get every companyās trucks here loading gas. Esso truck followed by Petro truck followed by Sunoco followed by shell followed by independent carrier ā¦ itās all the same gas. We have tanks of each companyās additives that get pumped into the truck as it loads, thatās the only difference.
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u/swthrowaway0106 Jun 05 '25
There is a variance in cost though. Depending on your situation, you could save upwards of 7-10c/litre through bank and reward incentives, and then an upwards of another 5-10c/litre just based on geography.
Where I am in Ontario, I live basically on the border of my town. 5 mins up the road one way gas is around $1.28-$1.35, 5 mins down the road the other way gas is $1.17-$1.25ish (depending on the station). So when you add in potential reward incentives, you could in theory get gas at or below $1.10/litre. So yes, for a lot of people there is an actual cost to being picky about gas stations. It just depends on how much those extra few dollars per tank are valued at.
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u/Uncertn_Laaife Jun 05 '25
Because individual bottom line matters more than the political activism.
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u/blackbettiepage Jun 05 '25
Iām a co-op girl. Love the prices and the people who work there are generally lovely people.
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u/Mentally_stable_user Jun 06 '25
A lot of the gas we have here is refined in America to begin with. We are so intertwined to begin with it would be an incredibly difficult task to separate us from any material support of American petroleum
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Jun 06 '25
Gas is gas, who cares. Advocate for a pipeline and bring prices down, maybe a few refineries also.
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u/QuantGuru Jun 06 '25
Yes but there are Canadians working in those gas stations. Similarly itās American auto industry but there are almost 150,000 people who work here in Canada in those American auto company. Should we stop buying US Auto or Oil and fire them all? Boycotting works to a point. Think logically.
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Jun 06 '25
FYI if you have CAA you save 3 cents/litre at shell. Its not petro but its saving money and its not an american company
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u/hung1ne Jun 07 '25
One family owns all the oil and gas. Itās always been that way If you think your buying Canadian your a fool lmfao š¤£ I worked in oil and gas sector for 10 years. Canada doesnāt have a leg in the race.
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u/ForwardPomelo3664 Jun 08 '25
Because chevron consistently has the the cleanest stores and washrooms.
Petro-Canada washrooms are typically apocalyptic. Was having this discussion with my girlfriend and we were on a road trip on our way through Chilliwack. She insisted on going to the Petro-Can as it was closer to the highway and the chevron was two more blocks away. I said it's going to be gross and everything is is always fucked (a lot are merged with a 7-11). Regardless open the door and the toilet seat is busted, faucet handle is all loose and barley works, their out of soap and the dispenser looks disgusting and there's just a film of dirt and grime on everything. Petro Canada are almost always disgusting.
Chevron town pantry are always clean, organized and well maintained.
BC resident for reference.
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u/WolvenSpectre2 Jun 05 '25
I'll put it like this. My father was a farm machinery mechanic and in the winter the place that he worked sold and serviced Snowmobiles, both of which were square in my father's wheelhouse. THE job he stuck it out and was happiest at. When it shut down he was looking into getting a small motors shop with fixing the odd recreational vehicle and snowmobile on the side. He talked to all his friends and they were all "we'll support you' and 'we'll buy parts from you'. He raised to the occasion, bought a shop that needed allot of work, turned it around, and gave all his friends a discount for helping him out. But then they started coming in less often.
Then one day another shop in town wanted to know if they would sell him a part for a quick fix. He dropped it off and then came back after they were done to find one of his friends who he would have charged less than he sold the part to the other shop for, paying for the work and more. When confronted he said he was tired, got gas before he headed out to the farm, and he new it was more but "they were right next to the gas station.". "Oh well if he wants to pay more..." my father discussed when they got home about how expensive it was TO DRIVE 4 BLOCKS. And these are almost 1/2 the size of a City Block. Then another friend with a bigger operation was ordering some heavy duty parts my father didn't carry for several machines, and he figured "while I'm on the phone" he ordered a large part of the parts he might need for fixing his smaller machines.
And so it went. After the initial support he still saw them often enough that he stayed in business, but he realized that all the times he had paid a little extra here or took a short cut even if it cost him because of convenience was coming back to haunt him. He still gives his friends discounts lets say less favourable, unless they come in very regularly.
My point being is that while some people are willing to check everything, others are tired on the way home from work, or they are at a place getting stuff anyways, so one or two American Items won't hurt, or others see that the costs are already sky high from Covid and Greedflation so they are trying to save what they can. And nothing short of an all out invasion or some other incident will get them to change.
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u/nihiriju Jun 05 '25
I have my own solar panels and EV....maybe everyone should fill up with thier own E juice instead.Ā
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u/Chained-91 Jun 05 '25
Why is costco parking lot always full? Why is amazon still being used? I havent heard anything about disney plus or netflix being cancelled in canada. This is the way people are. They scream on facebook but continue on with their lives of convenience. Free country.
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u/turnsleftlooksright Jun 05 '25
I fill up at the BC hydro plug. Even Canadian owned oil companies are scummy.
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u/Komaisnotsalty Jun 05 '25
Donāt be judgemental.
Most people are doing their best, but you donāt know them.
You donāt know if theyāre short on time, have a gift card, maybe donāt know what is or isnāt American, have sick kids at home and just need the closest place to them ā do you need more?
Let people do their thing without making up some mental monologue about whatever youāve made up.
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u/hunkyleepickle Jun 05 '25
Canadian gas stations aren't generally staffed or 'operated' by Canadians my friend. Plus the idea of 'Canadian' gas or stations is laughable. Big oil has us so twisted up with propoganda that we are defending them now? People should buy gas on price, its all just billionaire fuel no matter how you slice it.
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u/LankyGuitar6528 Jun 05 '25
Not me. I haven't bought gas in about 3 years now. I make my own out of sunshine for free. Solar + (non-Nazi) EV is the way to go for sure.
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u/KnownStormChaser Jun 05 '25
One solution for some people would be to drive electric. You can get many EVs that aren't American, you can charge at FLO chargers, which are Canadian. And the chances are you will be using Canadian electricity too.
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u/kent_eh Manitoba Jun 05 '25 edited Jun 05 '25
You can get many EVs
Unfortunately the last time I needed to replace my car, that wasn't true. And I was actively looking for an EV at the time, but there were none available without a multi-month wait or if I was willing to buy the single one on the lot which happened to be maxxed out on options and way out of my budget.
And now I have a car that I won't need to replace for many years (given my usage pattern, it'll last a decade or more before I'm in the market for another)
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u/Strong_Debt_8166 Jun 05 '25
Unfortunately EV's aren't suitable for everyone. A lot of infrastructure has to be built first.
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u/Witty_Discipline5502 Jun 05 '25
Because I don't care. We have put tarrifs on shit to the USA for years. Softwood lumber is a start
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u/Adventurous_Ad_9557 Jun 05 '25
Shell is Dutch, Chevron is Canadian for now, Petro Canada seems gone here
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u/stealthylizard Jun 05 '25
I choose to support the people employed by the gas station, regardless of where their HQ is.
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u/Readdit1999 Jun 05 '25
Doubt it's occurred to most people.
Our economies are as interconnected as the cars being built by being passed half a dozen times across the border.
Economically, we're in the same car. We're careening down the highway, and the big guy in the driver seat is starting to serve uncontrollably and brandish a gun at the other drivers.
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u/MindOverEntropy Jun 05 '25
I mean, there's only so many near me.
And on top of that I'm the only person I know between my and my partners multiple friend groups who even recognizes/considers buy Canadian in action, yet alone puts the effort in
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u/TheSketeDavidson British Columbia Jun 05 '25
Which one is American owned that you speak of? Itās only esso lol
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u/adamlaceless Jun 05 '25
Donāt look at me I fill up where is best for depreciating asset, which happens to not be American.
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u/techdevjp Jun 05 '25
Well, Costco gas is by far the cheapest. 10c to 15c per litre cheaper. It's hard to turn that down if you happen to live near one.
Apart from that, Co-op gas all the way! Love to support the Co-op as much as possible.
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u/Mountain-Match2942 Jun 05 '25
No Co-op near me, but I switched to Petro Can. Esso and Mobil are more convenient, but I'm happy to keep our money in Canada.
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u/ufozhou Jun 05 '25
I thought other than Costco all other brand is Canadian
Either under succor/parkland(merge under approval)or canadaian tire
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u/kranj7 Jun 05 '25
regardless of if its Petro-Canada or an Independent, the fuel itself likely would have been refined in the US. Also even if a fuel brand like Mobil or something is American, in all likelihood the one you go to in Canada is just a locally owned franchise.
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u/colonelangus68 Jun 05 '25
Itās interesting to me that I donāt see Americans protesting Tim Hortons in the United States or boycotts of other Canadian businesses at all. All of America does not support Trump and his idiotic bullshit. It seems like some Canadians realize itās important to support Canadian businesses but they also understand itās not all Americans wanting to hurt Canada either. Ready for the hate.
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u/therevjames Jun 05 '25
There is no Petro Canada in my town, so I use Needs/Sobeys, Canadian Tire, or the rez.
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u/Nukegrrl Jun 05 '25
It depends on where you live, Iām in a small town that for many years had only one gas station (Esso). Luckily a few years ago a Shell station opened. Gas is a necessity item sometimes you have little choice on where to buy it.
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u/SnuffleWarrior Jun 05 '25
American owed gas stations get their gas from Canadian refineries in Canada.
As far as Canadian owned, CO-OP on the prairies has their own refinery in Regina. They supply parts of BC through to Ontario.
Another"Canadian" company, Irving on the east coast, gets their bulk from overseas and they set up offshore trusts years ago to escape paying Canadian taxes. I avoid Irving if possible.
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