Discount Propane · Ontario Pricing Guide
Propane Prices in Ontario — September 2026
What propane actually costs in Ontario right now: the market anchors either side of your delivered price, fill costs for every common tank size, and how propane compares with electricity and natural gas — no sales pitch in the numbers.
- Updated monthly
- All tank sizes covered
- Durham · York · Kawartha Lakes
Quick answer: Ontario has no published residential propane price — the Ontario Energy Board does not regulate propane. Your delivered rate depends on your annual volume, contract type and delivery distance. This page shows the reference points either side of your price, what each tank costs to fill, and like-for-like heating cost comparisons. For a firm number on your address, call 905-448-5955.
Propane is the main heating fuel for tens of thousands of homes across Durham Region, Scugog, Clarington and the City of Kawartha Lakes — almost all of them properties with no natural gas line at the road. If that is your home, farm or shop, the price per litre is the number that decides your winter budget.
This page explains what propane actually costs in Ontario right now, what a fill costs for each common tank size, how propane compares to electricity and natural gas on a like-for-like basis, and what makes the price move. No sales pitch in the numbers — just the arithmetic.
What does propane cost per litre in Ontario?
Here is the honest answer, and it is one most propane websites will not give you: nobody publishes a residential delivered propane price for Ontario. The Ontario Energy Board regulates electricity and natural gas — it has no jurisdiction over propane. Statistics Canada’s retail fuel price series covers gasoline and fuel oil, not propane. Propane in Ontario is a deregulated, contract-negotiated commodity, and every supplier prices it differently.
What we can show you are the anchors either side of your delivered price:
| Reference point | Recent figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale hub (Mont Belvieu, TX) | ≈ 25 ¢/L CAD | The North American benchmark price for bulk propane before any transport, storage, handling or delivery. Nobody buys at this price retail. |
| Canadian average auto propane | 126.7 ¢/L | Pump price at refuelling stations, taxes included (Natural Resources Canada, week ending 25 August 2026). Carries station margin, and is a different product channel than bulk home delivery. |
| Your delivered residential rate | Quoted per account | Set by your annual volume, contract type, delivery distance and tank arrangement — see below. |
A caution on published figures: Natural Resources Canada’s Toronto auto-propane price has been reported at 139.9 ¢/L unchanged every week since January 2025, and its tax breakdown still includes Ontario’s 4.3 ¢/L propane tax — a tax that was removed on 1 July 2025. Ontario’s own fuel price survey is currently offline. Treat any “Ontario propane price” you see quoted from those sources with suspicion.
What actually sets your price per litre
- Annual volume. The single biggest factor. A home burning 3,500 L a year is priced very differently from a cottage burning 400 L or a grain dryer burning 20,000 L in six weeks.
- Contract type. Variable rates float with the market. Fixed-price contracts lock a rate for the season — protection against a spike, no benefit if the market falls. Budget or equal-payment plans smooth cash flow but do not change the underlying rate.
- Delivery distance and density. A property at the end of a long rural concession road costs more to serve than one on a route with twenty other tanks.
- Tank ownership. A rented tank usually carries a lower up-front cost and a rental fee; an owned tank removes the fee but is your responsibility to maintain and recertify.
- Automatic vs. will-call. Automatic delivery, where we monitor degree-days and schedule your fill before you run low, is routed efficiently and generally priced better than emergency will-call runs.
Call 905-448-5955 for today’s rate on your address and volume. It takes about two minutes and we will quote the actual number, not a range.
Propane tank fill costs: 20 lb, 30 lb, 100 lb and 420 lb
Tank sizes are named for the weight of propane they hold when correctly filled. Because propane weighs about 0.507 kg per litre, the weight rating converts to litres like this — and because tanks are filled to 80% (see below), these are the usable litres you actually receive on a full fill.
| Tank | Usable propane | Typical use | @ $0.80/L | @ $1.00/L | @ $1.20/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 lb (4.7 US gal) | ≈ 17.9 L | BBQ, patio heater, construction torch | $14.31 | $17.89 | $21.47 |
| 30 lb (7.1 US gal) | ≈ 26.8 L | RV, trailer, small cottage appliance | $21.47 | $26.84 | $32.21 |
| 100 lb (23.6 US gal) | ≈ 89.5 L | Cottage, fireplace, range, dryer, supplemental heat | $71.57 | $89.47 | $107.36 |
| 420 lb (99.3 US gal) | ≈ 375.8 L | Small home heating, hot water, shop heat | $300.61 | $375.76 | $450.91 |
The dollar columns show what a full fill costs at three illustrative per-litre rates so you can find your own figure — they are arithmetic, not a quoted Discount Propane price. Multiply the usable litres by your current rate for an exact number, and add HST. Whole-home heating in this region more commonly uses a 500 US gallon tank rather than a 420 lb. Note that “500 gallon” is the tank’s water capacity (1,893 L), not what goes in it — at a correct 80% fill it holds about 1,514 L of propane.
Why is my propane tank only filled to 80%? The 80/20 rule
Propane is stored as a liquid under pressure, and liquid propane expands substantially as it warms — roughly seventeen times more than water over the same temperature rise. A tank filled to the brim on a cold February morning would have nowhere to put that expansion when the sun hits it in July.
So every propane tank is filled to 80% of its water capacity, leaving the top 20% as vapour space for the liquid to expand into. This is not a supplier shortchanging you — it is a safety requirement under the Technical Standards and Safety Authority’s propane code, and it is why your tank gauge reads 80% when it is properly full.
The practical consequences: a gauge reading of 80% is full, and you should arrange a delivery when the gauge reaches about 25–30% rather than waiting for it to empty. Running a tank fully dry means a mandatory leak test and system purge by a licensed technician before service can resume, at your cost.
Propane vs. electric vs. natural gas heating costs in Ontario
Comparing fuels by their sticker price is meaningless — a litre, a cubic metre and a kilowatt-hour carry different amounts of energy, and appliances convert them at different efficiencies. The only fair comparison is cost per useful gigajoule of heat delivered into the house, after efficiency losses.
| Heating system | Rate used | Efficiency | Cost per useful GJ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas furnace | 28.33 ¢/m³ all-in + HST | 95% AFUE | $8.99 |
| Air-source heat pump | 12.0 ¢/kWh Tier 1 + HST | COP 2.5 | $15.07 |
| Propane furnace | $0.80/L | 90% AFUE | $35.13 |
| Electric baseboard | 12.0 ¢/kWh Tier 1 + HST | 100% | $37.67 |
| Propane furnace | $1.00/L | 90% AFUE | $43.92 |
| Electric baseboard | 20.3 ¢/kWh on-peak + HST | 100% | $63.72 |
Sources: electricity rates are the Ontario Energy Board Regulated Price Plan in effect 1 November 2025 – 31 October 2026. Natural gas is Enbridge Gas Rate 1 (EGD zone, covering Durham and Kawartha Lakes) effective 1 July 2026. Energy content values are Natural Resources Canada: propane 25.3 MJ/L, natural gas 37.5 MJ/m³, electricity 3.6 MJ/kWh. Electricity and gas figures are commodity rates plus HST — delivery and fixed monthly charges are extra and are significant, particularly for Hydro One rural customers, so the two electric rows understate real cost. Delivered propane already includes transport.
Reading that table honestly
We sell propane, and we are still going to tell you what the numbers say: if you have a natural gas line at your property, natural gas is cheaper than propane and it is not close. The reason most of our customers burn propane is simple — there is no gas line on their road, and there is no realistic prospect of one. Across rural Scugog, north Clarington, north Whitby, Uxbridge Township and most of the City of Kawartha Lakes, propane is not competing with natural gas, because natural gas is not on the menu.
Against the fuels propane does compete with rurally, it holds up well:
- Versus electric baseboard, propane wins at any delivered rate under roughly $0.86/L, and wins decisively against on-peak electricity at any realistic propane price.
- Versus heating oil, propane burns cleaner, requires no fuel filter service, and carries none of the soil-contamination liability that an ageing oil tank does.
- Versus a heat pump alone, propane delivers high-temperature heat that does not fade when the temperature drops below −15°C. Many properties in our service area now run a dual-fuel setup — heat pump for the shoulder seasons, propane furnace for deep cold — which is genuinely the lowest-cost configuration for a rural Ontario home over a full year.
- In an outage, propane keeps running. Your furnace, water heater, range, dryer and standby generator all work when the grid does not — which matters on rural circuits that lose power for days after an ice storm.
What makes propane prices move
Propane pricing behaves differently from gasoline, and understanding why helps you time a fill.
Supply is flat, demand is not
Propane is a co-product. About 90% of Canadian propane is extracted at natural gas processing plants, the rest from refineries — it is produced at a steady rate all year regardless of whether anyone needs it. Demand, by contrast, collapses in summer and spikes in winter. Inventories are built through spring and summer and drawn down from October to March. When demand rises faster than the system can move product, prices spike hard.
Ontario’s autumn crop-drying spike
This one is specific to where you live. Ontario and Quebec account for over 80% of Canadian agricultural propane use, and grain drying is concentrated into a narrow window from mid-October through November. A wet harvest across the Durham and Kawartha farm belt pulls enormous volumes out of regional supply in a few weeks — immediately before residential heating demand arrives. The textbook case is the winter of 2013–14, when a late wet corn harvest collided with extreme cold and pushed North American residential propane roughly 75% above the prior year.
The rail corridor
There is no pipeline moving consumer-grade propane out of Western Canada — it travels by rail and truck, and roughly three-quarters of volumes move by rail. The mainline between Montreal and Toronto has no easy alternative routing. A strike, derailment or severe winter service degradation on that corridor is the concrete mechanism behind most Ontario propane supply scares.
Benchmark hubs
Four hubs set North American propane prices: Mont Belvieu in Texas (the global reference, heavily influenced by seaborne export demand), Conway in Kansas (Midwest heating and crop drying), Edmonton (Western Canadian production) and Sarnia (the Eastern Canadian hub, and the one most relevant to your bill). Ontario retail prices follow Sarnia and Mont Belvieu with a lag of weeks, not days.
The practical takeaway
Fill in late spring or summer, when inventories are building and demand is at its floor. Do not wait until late October, when crop drying and the first cold snap arrive together. If you want certainty rather than timing, ask about a fixed-price contract before the autumn.
Taxes on propane in Ontario right now
Two separate charges came off propane in the last two years, and a lot of price comparisons online have not caught up:
| Charge | Status | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Federal carbon levy (fuel charge) | $0.00 — was 12.38 ¢/L on propane | 1 April 2025 |
| Ontario propane tax | Removed — was 4.3 ¢/L | 1 July 2025 |
| Federal excise tax | None — propane has never been subject to it | — |
| HST | 13%, applies | — |
The Ontario propane tax applied to propane used in licensed motor vehicles; home heating propane was never subject to it. The federal carbon levy was set to zero by regulation rather than repealed, and the framework remains on the books — a future government could restore it without new legislation.
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Frequently asked questions about propane prices
How much does propane cost per litre in Ontario?
There is no published residential delivered propane price for Ontario — the Ontario Energy Board does not regulate propane and Statistics Canada does not survey it. Your rate is set per account based on annual volume, contract type, delivery distance and tank arrangement. For context, the Canadian average auto propane pump price was 126.7 ¢/L in late August 2026, while the wholesale benchmark sits near 25 ¢/L. Call 905-448-5955 for a firm quote on your address.
How much does it cost to fill a 100 lb propane tank?
A 100 lb tank holds about 89.5 litres of propane when filled correctly to 80% capacity. At $0.80 per litre that is roughly $72 plus HST; at $1.00 per litre roughly $89 plus HST; at $1.20 per litre roughly $107 plus HST. Multiply 89.5 by your current per-litre rate for an exact figure.
Why is my propane tank only filled to 80%?
Liquid propane expands significantly as it warms, so every tank is filled to 80% of its water capacity to leave vapour space for that expansion. This is a safety requirement under Ontario’s propane code, not a supplier shortchanging you. A gauge reading of 80% means your tank is full. Arrange your next delivery at around 25–30%.
Is propane cheaper than electric heat in Ontario?
Yes, at most realistic propane prices. Comparing cost per useful gigajoule of delivered heat, a 90% efficient propane furnace beats electric baseboard at any delivered rate below roughly $0.86 per litre, and beats on-peak electricity comfortably at any propane price. An efficient air-source heat pump is cheaper than propane in mild weather, but loses capacity in deep cold — which is why many rural Ontario homes run a heat pump and a propane furnace together.
Is there still a carbon tax on propane in Ontario?
No. The federal carbon levy on propane was set to $0.00 effective 1 April 2025, removing 12.38 cents per litre. Ontario separately removed its 4.3 cent per litre propane tax on 1 July 2025, though that tax only ever applied to propane used in licensed motor vehicles, not home heating. HST at 13% still applies.
Get today’s propane price for your property
We deliver residential, agricultural and commercial propane across Durham Region, York Region and the City of Kawartha Lakes — including Oshawa, Whitby, Clarington and Bowmanville, Port Perry and Scugog, Lindsay and Uxbridge.
Call 905-448-5955 or request a quote online. Tell us your tank size and roughly what you burn in a year, and we will give you a real number.