Methods

For each province with residential natural gas (see tabs above), a stacked area chart breaks down average monthly natural gas bills in that province. The average natural gas consumption used in this report is 7.37 GJ per month. This quantity is based on the Canadian average annual gas consumption of 88.4 GJ per year among homes that use natural gas. Natural gas use patterns are highly seasonal, so bills tend to be higher in the winter and less in other seasons. Some retailers offer fixed price plans, but these plans are not included in this report.

Price data was collected from the provincial regulator and selected natural gas providers in each province (shown in the table below). Information describing the bill components was taken from the gas providers. This report does not include goods and service tax (GST) or harmonized sales tax (HST). All the values in this report are only approximate and illustrative; they are meant to provide a representative example. Actual charges may be higher or lower that what is shown here.

A representative natural gas provider was selected for each province in this report. In Alberta, a default supply provider offers the provincial regulated rate. This could be either Direct Energy Regulated Services or AltaGas Utilities Inc. depending on the region.  In Ontario, the top two service providers are shown because two large companies serve distinct parts of the province. In other provinces one company serves a clear majority of residential gas users.