Canada needs a Windfall Profits Tax for Oil Companies using the Iran War to shake down consumers.
Sunday afternoon, I spotted a “deal” … gasoline “on sale” at Petro-Canada in Vancouver for $2.17.9 per litre … down 5 cents a litre from the price in the morning!
And while I was pumping my $48 purchase for only 22 litres (can’t afford to “fill up” anymore), I wondered how Canadian oil producers, selling Canadian gasoline in Canada to Canadian customers can justify charging “world” prices.
After all, Saudis still are paying 62 cents a litre (US) … not “world” prices; Kuwaitis pay 34-cents a litre (US) … not “world” prices; and, Venezuelans onle pay 3.5 cents a litre (US) … Yes, 3.5 cents a litre!!! (Read the whole world list, as of May 11, here: https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/).
Canadians are being ripped off!!!
And most oil companies are now profiting HUGELY from Canadian consumers’ suffering!
Petro-Canada made a profit of $1.79 Billion in 2025, up from $1.76 Billion in 2004, according to Petroleum News. And that does NOT include any ADDITIONAL profits the company has made since the beginning of this year, with prices almost doubling during the current “crisis”.
“Canada’s Big Five awash with profits”, the Petroleum newsletter reported.
“The profit breakdown shows: Imperial Oil C$2.6 billion (C$2.05 billion in 2004), Shell Canada C$2.01 billion (C$1.29 billion in 2004), Husky C$2 billion (C$1.01 billion in 2004), Petro-Canada C $1.79 billion (C$1.76 billion in 2004) and Suncor Energy C$1.25 billion (C$1.09 billion in 2004),” it revealed. (Read the full article here: https://www.petroleumnews.com/story/2006/02/19/news/canadas-big-five-awash-with-profits/9894.html. )
The Financial Post predicts Canadian oil producers will cash in big-time in 2026 as a result of the Iran war.
“As for energy producers, 2026 could be a windfall year, as higher prices raise cash flow and profits. Using average oilsands breakeven costs and the futures price expectations above, a single facility producing 100 million barrels per year could see $3-$4 billion in incremental profits,” FP reported just weeks ago. (Details: https://financialpost.com/opinion/numbers-oil-price-windfall.)
In fact, Suncor, apparently Canada’s “largest integrated oilsands producer” has already reported first-quarter profits of $2.1 Billion … UP almost 24% from the same quarter in 2025.
The US parent company of Shell Canada’s first-quarter profit “beat estimates and hit its highest in two years at US$6.9-billion on Thursday, boosted by gains linked to the Middle East war, prompting it to raise the dividend by 5 per cent,” the Globe and Mail revealed last week.
Imperial Oil, however, reported lower first-quarter profits, but that was due to disrupted “throughput” operations, due to technical problems.
The federal government is also cashing in on the higher prices/profits. Although the Liberals cut the federal gasoline tax, it still is cashing in BIG TIME from the higher taxes on the higher profits reported by the corporations.
It’s time to do something for the people.
The federal government should introduce a Windfall Profits Tax to curb the Great Canadian Consumers Ripoff where oil companies are cashing in by excessively squeezing Canadians to the tune of BILLIONS more profits!
The Iran conflict looks likely to continue for quite some time, and even after it ends, it will take many months before global trade returns to any semblance of normality.
How many more EXTRA BILLIONS will the federal government let the oil companies rip off struggling Canadian consumers before it acts?
Time for the media to press for an answer … and action!
🇨🇦🇨🇦Happy Victoria Day!🇨🇦🇨🇦
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on the Blog.)
Oil corporations are profit from the suffering of consumers. The elites (that also includes politicians) can profit by manipulating stock prices. The reality is that those responsible for the war in the Middle East are not concerned with the problems of ordinary people.
According to many sources, the USA and Israel have used Iran’s nuclear ambitions as a pretext for regime change, and their intelligence claims have been disputed. Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, once stated that Iran posed no imminent threat to the USA. Following a major military campaign in February 2026, many analysts argued the nuclear threat was used to justify a war whose true goal was to overthrow the Iranian regime. Harrison Berger, from the American Conservative, argued that “the only reason we hear that Iran’s nuclear program is a threat to the United States is to provide a pretext for the war that we’re now doing.”
A March 2026 article from the Union of Concerned Scientists explicitly stated that claims of an imminent nuclear threat were bogus claims and reminiscent of the false Weapons of Mass Destruction claims used to invade Iraq. An April 2026 article in The Atlantic confirmed that the US intelligence community accurately assessed that Iran was not preparing to use a nuclear weapon and did not have missiles capable of reaching the USA, calling it an intelligence success that contradicted the public justification for the war.
Both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu asked the Iranian people to seize the moment to overthrow the Iranian regime, signalling that regime change, not just nuclear non-proliferation, was the ultimate objective. The Times of Israel reported that the February 2026 attack has a far larger goal this time, namely the fall of the regime.
While Iran does have a nuclear program (ironically, if they had a nuclear bomb, the crisis would not be taking place), the evidence suggests that the threat was completely exaggerated or misrepresented to build support for a military campaign aimed at removing the government in Tehran .
Here are a few more points readers may not be aware of. The USA destroyed a bridge which took Iran about 10 years to build. It was going to be the tallest bridge in the Middle East. An engineering marvel, many Iranians worked through the night to complete it at great effort due to crippling sanctions. Iranians who were having a picnic under the bridge were killed when the bridge was destroyed.
There is a Greater Israel Project, which everyone should research. It isn’t true that Palestine was completely barren when Israel was established. It had a population of about 900,000, an airport and a newspaper. Many in Israel have such extremist views they have no concern for the innocent women and children in Gaza, which is very sad. Unlike Iraq, Iran has never invaded any of its neighbours.
(Response: Actually , you are quite wrong when you say Iran has never attacked any of its neighbours: it has attacked Iraqi territory on a number of occasions… including periodic missile strikes inside Iraq right up to just before the recent war with US/Israel began. The other thing to keep in mind is that Iran has funded and armed with missiles and rockets several proxy terrorist groups that it uses to attack its foes (not just Israel but Saudi Arabia and UAE etc) and we should not forget that the first ever actual physical war between Iran and Israel, about two years ago, began after Iran launched 300 missiles directly towards Israel.
I would agree that Iran did not pose an “immediate“ nuclear threat when the current war began, but I certainly would not wait until they had a nuclear bomb put together before acting! From everything I have seen and read, enrichment of nuclear material for medical and civilian purposes is around 6%… Iran was well over 60%… for no plausible civilian purpose and was well on the way tonthe 90% rich enrichment level needed for a bomb. I’m glad the US did not wait! Ho)
My apology. I wanted to also mention that there are 150,000 to 190, 000 workers in the oil and gas sector in Canada. The industry also supports 900,000 Canadian jobs.
For the record I am retired, never worked in the industry nor have relatives who do or did.
I’m just not sure what they are supposed to be doing with their profits.
There must be some funds in there somewhere going to worthwhile causes, but to who or what, I don’t really know.
(Response: Yes…and great paying jobs too. But they were that way for years before the Great Oil Rip Off by the oil corporations began .. and so were the billions in profits the oil companies were making every year. I have seen absolutely no justification for them to double the price they charge Canadians for their products …other than greed and a captive clientele. Ho)
I totally understand how everyone is frustrated by the increase in the cost of fuel these days. As far as I can tell it is the result of “unintended consequences” caused by the war between the U S and Iran. Trump needlessly started this war, and Iran is fighting back to survive the best way it can.
Businesses can only survive if they make profits, otherwise what’s the point? If they are listed on the stock market they must be profitable to please their investors. They are subject to market conditions which can fluctuate greatly for whatever reasons which are often unpredictable. Nobody gives a whit when the price of oil goes down to $50.00 a barrel, but these same companies have to sharpen their pencils, keep costs to a minimum, look for ways find new reserves, maintain their equipment, etc. for their own survival all the while that their product is now worth less. Regardless, they are punished by their investors if they aren’t profitable, and their value goes down.
BC gets a lot of revenue from taxes on fuel. Unless I missed it, I haven’t heard Eby say the NDP would drop some of these taxes to help British Colombians until prices can get back to normal. This is part of the reason we always have some of the highest fuel prices in the country.
Trump could care less about all the worldwide hardship he is causing by doing nothing, but this could all be changed if this situation could be resolved and that straight reopened. Lots of countries including Canada are on standby to help out, but even if done today it will still take months to return to normal.
I realise this may be a huge over simplification of very complicated world problems, however somebody has to blink…this cannot last forever.
(Response: First of all, I still believe the actions of the US and Israel in wiping out Iran’s nuclear facilities and its murderous leadership, who were absolutely working on a nuclear bomb, was justified. And I’m only sorry they didn’t also accomplish regime change to liberate the horribly oppressed Iranian people. And frankly, they must do whatever it will take to open the Hormuz Strait to free, unimpeded international marine traffic … even if global trade (not just oil) is temporarily impeded … and it causes temporary price increases on goods that emanate from that area. BUT if so many other oil producing countries can keep domestic prices at or close to “normal” levels in the interim, so should Canadian producers! They have few or no extra costs … just greed …and if they won’t restrain themselves, a Windfall Profits Tax would! Ho)
There is another way. Buy their stock. If you have read the Seven Sisters, Oil companies rule the world. And have for a loong time. Should we be getting fuel for Canadians at a lower price? of course! But, Can you imagine the howling from our Alberta Danielle Smith pandering Separatist Hillbilly Government.
(Response: Not saying deny the oil companies their fair profits … just tax excessive profits clearly way above the norm. So Alberta, other provinces and the federal government will still get their fair share of the taxes… while giving ordinary Canadians some relief. Ho)
I disagree with a windfall profits tax for the following reasons. By the way, I work for an oil company.
First, the best way to lower prices is to increase supply. A tax will do nothing to increase supply as it will discourage oil companies from any increased exploration activity.
Second, a tax will send a message to other industries that if you make too much money a government will take away any amount that the government considers excessive. One of Canada’s problems is that there is insufficient capital investment, which is leading to stagnating lifestyles. A windfall profits tax will further discourage that investment.
Third, one of the arguments that Alberta separatist are saying is that Alberta will never get a fair deal within Canada and separation is the only solution. A windfall profits tax will provide further evidence that the rest of Canada wants to abuse Alberta as the tax will disproportionately affect Alberta’s economy.
(Response: Yes, increasing supply does result in lower prices … in normal times. These are certainly not normal times.What we are seeing is oil companies in Canada, with little or no extra production costs, holding Canadians hostage with almost doubled prices. Canadian consumers, including Albertans, are now suffering… and need relief… now. And EXCESSIVE profits of the oil companies would send a message to not only the oil corporations but others as well looking to extort EXCESSIVE profits from a captive crowd. Ho)
How did we get to world oil prices -compliments of the Canadian Encyclopedia
The federal government created the National Energy Board in 1959 and the National Oil Policy in 1961 to address these supply problems. The solution was that Quebec and the Atlantic provinces would continue to import oil by ship from the cheapest foreign sources, while all of Canada west of the Ottawa Valley would get its oil and gas from Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Shielding the western market from competition gave Canada’s oil and gas industry a protected market in which to grow.
The federal government introduced price controls one month before the Oil Embargo of October 1973. In response to American support of Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries banned oil sales to the United States and its allies. This caused both a rapid price increase and a global oil shortage. The global oil crisis that developed in 1973–74 hurt Canada’s economy, which depended on cheap oil imports from the Middle East and North Africa.
Though oil had increased in value, Canada’s oil industry was largely owned by American companies. Canada was exporting oil to the United States at a fixed price and importing oil from foreign sources at an increasing price. This was a strange position to be in: Canada essentially had two oil markets. Canada was a net exporter of energy but a net importer of oil.
Even though the cost of oil was increasing globally, Canadians were not reaping much of the benefit. From 1973 onward, the federal government worked with the governments of oil-producing provinces to increase the price of Canadian oil. By 1979, the domestic price was roughly 85 per cent of the global price. A second oil crisis in 1979–80 caused the world price of oil to more than double over the course of a year.
(Response: Interesting backgrounder, but a lot has changed with oil in the past few years… especially the last few months. It’s one thing to increase prices for imports because of limited supply or higher wholesale pricing; it’s quite another to double your domestic pricing … with almost no change in production costs … because you have a monopoly and can extort your customers who have no choice but to buy! The federal government has a duty to protect Canadians from such gouging. Ho)
Years back the banks had an cap on profits and anything over that cap was taxed at much higher rate. So profits that may have gone for higher dividends, stock prices that benefit individual investors, pensions funds etc went back to the government to as we far too often see waist away. If those surplus dollars went to lower costs and benefits then that would be good as well.
What should be the mix?
(Response: I don’t really like price controls and when corporations (or individuals) pay their taxes on income profits, it’s very difficult for the government to decide who paid what and where it should go specifically. But even if it went into general coffers, it would give the government much more to spend on cash-strapped public programs.However, I wonder if the companies knew that their excessive profits would be taxed, they might on their own lower their prices to a more reasonable level, so they could keep almost all of it, while still providing decent dividends to their shareholders. Ho)
Feels like gas station prices are calibrated .
Atlantic provinces regulate pricing .
Don’t forget taxpayer discounts and write offs
Come year end.?
Who paid 30 Billion for oil pipeline?
(Response: One of the big problems is that various governments profit to the tune of hundreds of millions as oil companies rip us off: not just in per litre taxes, but in PST/GST taxes based on total purchase and higher corporate taxes based on net profits. But if governments in other oil-producing nations can give their consumers a break… so should Canada! Ho)
You can put a feather in your capp for this article.
(Response: A few groups and organizations have already drawn attention to the huge oil company profits and called for windfall taxes. I was just amazed at how huge they are once I did a little research and decided to share the info with my readers… and hopefully alert my colleagues in the media to pursue this story, because the outrageously high gas prices … and equally outrageous profit margins … are going to be with us for a very long time! Ho)
I agree, far too many corporations are actually oligopolies, which sole existence is to make huge profits.
We need a “Combines” investigation into all major corporations and break up a few for the benefit of the “people”.
We need to update the Combines Investigation Act, put some tetth into it and let it do its job!
(Response: it’s not as if there is a lot of competition out there. Few Canadians can or want to go to the US to buy gasoline. So the oil companies here have a captive audience … and a federal government that seems to be willing to let them rip us off. Ho)
I strongly believe in private enterprise…but the oil companies should be sheltering Canadians from such unreal prices.
Who’s to blame….the oil companies. We are paying $2.90 per litre and we are producers. Something terrible lay wrong and not a word from our duely elected officials at the highest levels. Man are we been taken big time!
(Response: The excuse we always get is the Canada allows oil companies to charge world prices domestically. Why? I hope everyone looks at that link to the global prices charged elsewhere… Many oil producing companies give their local citizens a break. Why not Canada? Especially at this time when they are clearly ripping us off to the tunes of billions and billions of dollars. Canada needs either price controls on gasoline and oil products or a windfall profit tax! Left untouched, the Great Canadian Oil Robbery of consumers will go one for another year!!! Ho)