Quebec · Prices
When should you fill up in Quebec?
Your brother-in-law swears by a certain day of the week. Your coworker swears by a certain time of day. Everyone has a theory about the best time to fill up. The real answer is less exciting but a lot more useful: in Quebec, you can now see every station's actual price before you pick where to stop.
There's no magic day
Pump prices move for all kinds of reasons: wholesale prices, local competition, each station's own decisions. They don't all change at the same time, or in the same direction. A pattern you thought you spotted last month may not hold the next.
So waiting for a particular day is a bet. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you pay more than you would have two days earlier, while telling yourself you timed it right. We'd rather give you a method that works on any day of the week.
What changed on April 1, 2026
Since April 1, 2026, every gas retailer in Quebec has had to report its prices in real time to the Régie de l'énergie, which makes them public. No more driving past three stations to figure out which one has the best price.
Gazo reads those official prices every 2 minutes and shows how old each one is, so you know whether you're looking at a price from a few minutes ago or from this morning. It isn't an estimate or an average: it's the price the station reported itself.
Compare when you actually need gas
The best time to fill up is when you need gas and you've taken a few seconds to compare. Open Gazo, pick your fuel (regular, premium or diesel), and the list sorts itself by price, cheapest at the top.
Once you've found your station, the “Go” button opens Google Maps, Waze or Apple Maps with directions straight to it. And to be clear: no station pays to rank higher. Sorting by price means sorting by price.
Keep an eye on nearby stations
This is often where the real savings are. Two stations a few blocks apart don't always post the same price, and the gap is sometimes bigger than you'd expect. Now that everything is public, you can see it at a glance.
Keep things in proportion, though: crossing town for a small difference means burning on the way what you were hoping to save. A 5 or 10 km radius is usually plenty, and you can widen it to 25 km when you're on the road.
Don't wait for the low fuel light
The low fuel light is a terrible financial advisor. When it comes on, you pull into the first station you see, whatever the price, because you don't really have a choice anymore.
Fill up while you still have some room, say around a quarter tank. That way you pick your station instead of settling for one, and you can grab a good price along your usual route instead of making a detour.
Gazo+ price history and alerts
With Gazo+, you get 30 days of price history for every station in Quebec. It's handy for telling whether today's price at your usual station is on the high or low side compared with the past few weeks. It won't predict the future, but it keeps you from mistaking an ordinary price for a deal.
Price alerts do the watching for you: set your threshold, something like “let me know when regular drops below my target price within 10 km,” and Gazo notifies you. Gazo+ costs $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year, with no ads and unlimited favourites. The free version still shows every price.
