For many small firms, fuel prices are no longer a line item that can be managed quietly in the background. They are now shaping how goods move, how much it costs to deliver them, and how quickly owners can respond when margins tighten. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the pressure is spreading through every part of the business day.
How do fuel prices affect small businesses?
The answer starts with the basics: energy costs reach small and medium-sized enterprises through fuel, electricity, and natural gas, but they do not stop there. Energy prices are built into supply chains, transportation, input costs, and final prices. For smaller firms, the problem is sharper because they have limited ability to hedge against price swings or fully pass costs on to customers. That makes sustained increases especially hard to absorb.
The latest picture is severe. Over the past three months, the national average price of regular gasoline rose by roughly 39%, climbing from about $1. 37 per litre in late January to nearly $1. 90 per litre by April 09, 2026. Even after the federal government’s temporary suspension of the fuel excise tax effective April 20, regular gasoline averaged $1. 72 per litre on April 22, still about 26% higher than at the end of January.
Why are fuel prices still so high?
The CFIB links the pressure to uncertainty in global energy markets, including risks tied to major shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes. That uncertainty has helped push prices higher, and the organization says normalization would not happen quickly even if geopolitical tensions settle in the coming weeks. Current estimates suggest energy prices would not return to normal until late 2026.
That timeline matters because owners are already feeling the strain. In the CFIB Monthly Business Barometer, the share of business owners reporting difficulties from fuel costs reached 74% in April 2026, a record high for the data series. Fuel has become the most commonly reported input cost constraint for SMEs, ahead of labour, taxes, and other operating expenses.
What are owners seeing on the ground?
The numbers align with a broader sense of unease among businesses. In the CFIB’s latest omnibus survey, 85% of business owners said they were concerned that energy prices would negatively affect their business over the next 12 months. That concern reflects more than the price at the pump; it reflects the way higher costs ripple through ordering, delivery, and pricing decisions.
For small firms, every increase is a choice they did not want to make. Some can delay purchases. Some can trim routes or schedules. Others may have no easy adjustment at all. The problem is not just the level of fuel prices, but the speed and volatility of the changes.
What responses are being considered?
The CFIB says its analysis draws on two surveys: the Your Voice Omnibus Survey for April 2026 and a special Energy Survey conducted in March 2026. The goal is to understand how rising fuel prices are affecting Canadian small businesses, how owners are responding, and what the pressure means for energy policy. That matters because the stress is no longer theoretical. It is showing up in day-to-day decisions, from transportation planning to the final prices customers see.
Patrick de Haan, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said that prices had initially dropped after the excise tax was paused, with most Canadians seeing a decrease of nearly the entire 10 cents per litre. He added that the relief has begun to roll back because oil prices continue to rise. Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, announced the temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax on April 14, saying it would remove up to $0. 10 per litre on gasoline and $0. 04 per litre on diesel fuel.
For now, the scene is familiar: a pump, a receipt, and a business owner doing the math again. The numbers may shift week to week, but the strain remains. For many firms, fuel prices are not just a market signal anymore; they are a test of how long a small business can keep moving.
