CONTACT · DISPATCH
Boucher & Jones Fuels and Davis & McCauley Fuels — Petro-Canada distributor

Call dispatch during the workday, the after-hours line when it’s late, or send us a note and we’ll get back to you.

Dispatch
519 743 3669
After-hours
AFTER_HOURS_TBD
Hours
Monday – Friday · 7:00 – 17:30
After-hours line answers nights and weekends

Or send a note:

COLOURED DIESEL ·  DYED · OFF-ROAD · TAX-EXEMPT

Coloured diesel for off-road equipment across southwestern Ontario.

The dyed diesel that runs tractors, excavators, grain dryers, generators, and any unlicensed engine. Standing route, named rep, paired with clear diesel and DEF on one conversation.

Request a quoteUnderstand the rules
01 / WHERE IT FITS

Where coloured diesel is allowed, and where it isn’t.

Coloured diesel is ordinary diesel, dyed red, exempt from the 9.0 ¢/L Ontario fuel tax. The bright line is short — and it doesn’t care which industry you’re in. If a piece of equipment carries a plate, it can’t burn coloured.

Allowed · unlicensed equipment

  • Tractors, combines, swathers, sprayers, planters
  • Excavators, dozers, loaders, skid steers, on-site lifts
  • Grain dryers, stationary generators, irrigation pumps
  • Light towers, on-site compressors, welder generators
  • Commercial marine engines (not pleasure craft)
  • Reefer or PTO auxiliary units fed from a fuel tank physically separate from the truck’s drive engine

Prohibited · anything HTA-plated

  • Any vehicle registered under the Highway Traffic Act
  • Farm-plated trucks and pickups — even on the farm, even between contiguous parcels
  • A licensed truck’s propulsion tank, even if the trailer carries a reefer
  • Pleasure craft and recreational vehicles

SOURCE · FUEL TAX ACT S. 2(7.1) · R.R.O. 1990 REG. 464 · MIN. OF FINANCE “COLOURED FUEL” BULLETIN · MTO FARM GUIDE

02 / TODAY ·  CLEAR DIESEL · ON-ROAD · CAD / LITRE

Today’s Ontario reference rate — the rate coloured prices sit below.

The on-road rate moves with WTI plus provincial road tax and HST. Coloured diesel is the same product without the road tax — your customer rate sits below the posted clear rate by the statutory exemption plus standing-volume terms.

SOURCE · ONTARIO MIN. OF ENERGY · WEEKLY FUEL PRICE SURVEY
OBSERVED · JUN 8, 2026 · OPEN GOVERNMENT LICENCE – ONTARIO
Clear diesel · CAD / L
11.251.51.7522.25
$1.91-1.0%
Source: Ontario Ministry of Energy — Fuels Price Survey, Open Government Licence – Ontario · Weekly observation Jun 8, 2026
03 / WHAT IT IS

Ordinary diesel, dyed red, exempt from the Ontario road tax.

The product is the same middle-distillate diesel as the clear at the pump. The Ministry-registered dyer adds a red marker upstream, and that marker is what the Ministry’s inspectors check for in a roadside sample. The dye is the eligibility flag, not a different fuel.

  • The dye is the audit trail

    Fuel is dyed at the prescribed concentration by registered dyers, upstream of B&J. Ministry inspectors can pull a sample from a tank, an engine, or a dispenser; a positive dye reading on equipment that should be running clear is what triggers the penalty ladder. The dye itself does nothing to the engine — the cetane, the BTU content, the lubricity are unchanged.

  • The exemption, not a different fuel

    The 9.0 ¢/L Ontario fuel tax funds provincial roads. Equipment that doesn’t use those roads is exempt — that’s the policy logic. Coloured diesel is the mechanism that delivers the exemption at the pump rather than through after-the-fact rebates, which is why the dye matters at the eligibility line, not at the chemistry line.

SOURCE · FUEL TAX ACT R.S.O. 1990 C. F.35 · R.R.O. 1990 REG. 464 · MIN. OF FINANCE “COLOURED FUEL” BULLETIN

04 / HOW WE HANDLE IT

On standing route, by named rep, paired with clear and DEF.

Most accounts run coloured alongside clear diesel and (on newer equipment) DEF. One rep on the account, one number for after-hours, paperwork on the same invoice if you want it.

  • Standing route

    Scheduled drops sized to your tank cycle, by a named rep. After-hours dispatch through the same number you call during the day — relevant when a harvest week runs late or a job-site pour can’t wait until Monday.

  • Tank program

    A tank sized to your draw, installed to code by a certified petroleum mechanic. Ministry-required dye-band markings on the dispenser, secondary containment where the volume triggers it, and the inspector’s paperwork — handled at install, not later.

  • Fuel cubes for portable

    For job sites, remote pumps, and operations without permanent storage — ULC-listed double-walled cubes delivered to the site and refilled on the standing route. The right answer when the work moves and the tank has to move with it.

  • One supplier, both colours

    Coloured for the off-road side. Clear for any HTA-plated truck, run off the cardlock network at the same rates. DEF on the same route for Tier 4 equipment. Lubricants in the truck on delivery day.

TANK INSTALL · TSSA-CERTIFIED PETROLEUM MECHANIC · LIQUID FUELS HANDLING CODE
DEF · ISO 22241 · PETRO-CANADA AIR1

Request a quote
05 / BY INDUSTRY

Same fuel, different operation.

The product and the rules are constant. What changes is the tank, the cycle, and the calendar. The three pictures below are the recognition surface; the deeper vertical pages carry the application-specific detail.

  • AGRICULTURE

    On the farm

    Tractors, combines, sprayers, and on-farm dryers run coloured year-round. The standing route flexes around planting, spray weeks, and the September–November dryer peak. Tank sizing usually anchors on harvest-week burn plus dryer draw.

    • Typical equipment
      Tractors, combines, dryers, irrigation
    • Peak windows
      Planting · spray · harvest · drying
    • Tank pattern
      Permanent on-farm bulk, often paired with propane
    Coloured diesel for southwestern Ontario farms
  • CONSTRUCTION

    On the site

    Excavators, dozers, loaders, light towers, and site generators all run coloured. Sites without permanent storage take coloured in fuel cubes, refilled on the standing route. Multi-site GCs run one account across every job.

    • Typical equipment
      Excavators, dozers, loaders, gensets, towers
    • Peak windows
      Active build season · winter cure-heat work
    • Tank pattern
      Fuel cubes on-site, refilled by bulk truck
    On-site refuelling for construction
  • FLEET · COMMERCIAL

    In the yard

    Yard forklifts, back-up generators, and reefer auxiliary units (fed from tanks separate from the drive engine) all qualify. The HTA-plated trucks themselves run clear off our cardlock side; coloured handles the off-road support equipment.

    • Typical equipment
      Forklifts, yard tugs, gensets, reefer aux
    • Peak windows
      Year-round, season-flat
    • Tank pattern
      Yard bulk for off-road, cardlock for plated trucks
    Commercial & fleet overview
06 / THE RULES

The law, in plain language.

Ontario’s coloured-fuel rules read short and punish long. The full reference covers what coloured diesel is, where it can and can’t go, what the Ministry actually enforces, and what an on-site tank has to be — every fact source-attributed.

  • 01

    Eligibility, in detail

    Every equipment category, the licensed-vehicle rule in full, and the reefer carve-out (separate fuel tank only).

  • 02

    The penalty ladder

    POA set fine, the 3× / 10× / 13× tax back-charge ladder, and the $1M / 2-year ceiling — what each one actually applies to.

  • 03

    Records the Ministry wants

    The seven-year retention rule, what bulk-purchase receipts must show, and where the burden of proof sits.

  • 04

    Tank rules, in full

    Ontario Fire Code setbacks, secondary containment thresholds, labels and tags, and the spill-response trigger.

Understand the rules
07 / FAQ

Practical questions.

01Can a farm-plated truck burn coloured diesel?
No. The bright line under Fuel Tax Act s. 2(7.1) is whether the vehicle is registered under the Highway Traffic Act — farm-plated counts. The exemption is for unlicensed equipment, even when the work is entirely on private land. Farm-plated trucks run clear off the cardlock side at the same account.FUEL TAX ACT S. 2(7.1) · MTO FARM GUIDE
02What happens if an inspector finds dye in a plated vehicle?
A roadside dye test that comes back positive on an HTA-plated vehicle triggers a Provincial Offences Act set fine, plus a tax back-charge on the volume the Ministry estimates the equipment has burned in coloured. The back-charge ladder runs 3× / 10× / 13× on top of the recovered tax; the practical exposure on a commercial fleet truck is substantial. The full ladder is in the reference article.R.R.O. 1990 REG. 464 · MIN. OF FINANCE
03How does pricing work between clear and coloured?
Coloured sits below clear by the 9.0 ¢/L Ontario road-tax exemption. The two products track the same underlying wholesale market — when WTI moves, both move together. Your customer rates on both colours are set against the same posted reference, with standing-volume terms applied. Account-specific pricing comes in the quote.FUEL TAX ACT · MIN. OF FINANCE
04How do you size a tank for an operation?
We look at peak-week burn, the equipment’s draw under load, and what the operation expects to add over the next two seasons. The right size is the one that gets you through the peak without an emergency fill and through the off-season without dead capacity. A site visit takes an afternoon and produces a sized recommendation with Ontario Fire Code setbacks already factored in.ONTARIO FIRE CODE · LIQUID FUELS HANDLING CODE
05Can I take coloured diesel in a fuel cube on a job site?
Yes — ULC-listed double-walled cubes are the standard answer for sites without permanent storage. The fuel is still coloured, still tax-exempt, still subject to the same eligibility rules at the equipment end. The cube travels with the work; the standing route refills it on cycle.ULC-142 · LFHC · O. REG. 213/01
06Can I get coloured, clear, propane, and DEF on the same account?
Yes — most operations do. One rep on every line, one invoice if you want it, one after-hours number. The pairing is the default for a mixed-equipment operation, not the exception.OPERATIONS
NEXT STEP ·  SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Talk to dispatch about your coloured-diesel account.

Tell us what the equipment is, where the work is, and what your draw looks like. We’ll size the program around it and sort coloured, clear, propane, lubricants, and DEF on the same conversation.

Request a quoteAgricultureConstructionCommercial & fleet
05 / COVERAGE ·  SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO · 9 REGIONS

Across southwestern Ontario, by named rep.

Standing routes across nine regions. Same rep year-round; off-hours emergency dispatch through the same number.

Check your area · Postal code
CITY PAGES ·  15 ACROSS THE FOOTPRINT
SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO · 9-REGION FOOTPRINT

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