Market Snapshot: Canada’s refined petroleum product imports rose in 2025 as U.S. remained dominant supplier

Release date: 2026-07-29

Canada’s refined petroleum products (RPPs) imports increased by 3% in 2025 to 485,000 barrels per day (b/d). Generally, RPP imports have been climbing steadily since 2020, but have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.^Footnote 1 The total cost of imported RPPs was $21.4 billion in 2025, 1.2% lower than 2024.^Footnote 2

Figure 1: Annual Canadian refined petroleum product imports

The majority of Canada’s RPP imports originated from the U.S.

The United States is the primary source of Canada’s RPP imports, supplying 386,000 b/d (79.6%) in 2025, a share that has remained relatively stable since 2020. The Netherlands remained the second-largest supplier of imported RPPs to Canada for the past decade, providing 24,000 b/d, or 4.9% of the total imports in 2025. The remainder came from several countries, including the United Kingdom, Norway, and Belgium.

Figure 2: Share of annual Canadian refined petroleum product imports by country of origin

Alberta imported the most RPPs, followed by the three most populated provinces

Between 2020 and 2025, Alberta received the most volume of all provinces, accounting for about half of Canada’s RPP imports between 2020 and 2024, and 41% in 2025. The majority of this is condensate^Footnote 3, which is carried into the province from the U.S. by two CER-regulated pipelines, Southern Lights and Cochin.^Footnote 4 The condensate is blended with bitumen extracted from oil sands projects, allowing it to flow through pipelines. Although Alberta’s share of RPP imports declined in 2025, Alberta remained the top RPP importing province.^Footnote 5 Alberta’s imports have doubled since 2012 to 200,000 b/d in 2025, in support of growing oil sands production.

Quebec, Ontario, and B.C. are the next largest importers of RPPs. Since the majority of Canadians live in these provinces, they have some of the highest demand for RPPs. Most of the RPPs imported into these provinces are transportation fuels like gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel. In 2025, Quebec imported 103,000 b/d or 21% of Canada’s total. Quebec’s imports were on an upward trend between 2010 and 2018, then dropped by more than half in 2020. Imports have increased since then, but not to the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario imported 36,000 b/d or 8% of Canada’s total in 2025, while B.C.’s imports of 34,000 b/d accounted for 7% of Canada’s total.

Provinces that have tidewater access, like Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, tend to import a larger portion of RPPs from countries other than the U.S., including European countries. RPP distributors or resellers in each province decide where to source RPPs based on several factors, like the specifications of the product, product pricing, availability of local supply, cost of transportation, and other commercial and logistical considerations.

Figure 3: Annual refined petroleum products imports by province

Date modified:

2026-07-29