Victoria, August 11, 2026 – The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is cheering the recommendation by the Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services calling on the provincial government to cancel the expansion of the Provincial Sales Tax to essential professional services. CFIB and other organizations called for cancelling the tax hike as part of consultations on Budget 2027.
“A multi-party committee has recognized what small businesses have been saying for months: stop this tax grab,” said Ryan Mitton, B.C. Director of Legislative Affairs for CFIB. “Expanding the PST to essential professional services will add more than $500 million in annual costs onto B.C. businesses and consumers at a time when few can afford it.”
CFIB told the Budget 2027 consultation that 80 percent of businesses surveyed are opposed to this expansion and 72 percent are likely to pass the cost on to customers. Professional services affected include accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, engineering and geoscience services, non-residential rental and strata management services, commissions on non-residential real estate transactions, and security and private investigation services. Many small businesses either rely on or provide these services, which will be taxed at the PST rate of 7 percent.
“We’re hopeful that the government will adopt the committee’s recommendation and cancel the tax hike scheduled for October 1st,” added Mitton. “B.C. is experiencing an entrepreneurial drought, with more businesses having closed than opened for the last five consecutive quarters. We need to be reducing costs and reversing this momentum. Growing the economy will help bolster the budget and pay for the services we all rely on.”
CFIB continues to collect signatures on its petition calling on the government to cancel the PST expansion. As of August 11, more than 3,500 small businesses have signed. Interested entrepreneurs can add their name by visiting cfib.ca/bcpst.
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Kalith Nanayakkara, CFIB
Kalith.nanayakkara@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca .