Seven in 10 small businesses say B.C. Government’s PST expansion will raise prices

80 percent of businesses oppose expanding PST to professional services, with those relying on accounting and property management services hit hardest

Victoria, March 5, 2026 – A new flash survey shows small businesses across B.C. are overwhelmingly opposed to the provincial government’s plan to expand the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) and raise personal income taxes, with seven in 10 businesses warning they will likely pass on the cost of the PST increase, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

Key findings from the survey of 439 B.C. business owners (February 2026):

• 80% of businesses oppose expanding the 7% PST to professional services like accounting, security, and nonresidential real estate services.
• 72% say they are likely to pass on some or all new PST costs to customers.
• Small businesses are most impacted by expanding the PST to accounting and bookkeeping services (88% negative impact), followed by property management services (61%), security services (43%) and architectural, engineering and geoscience services (41%).
• 93% say Budget 2026 will not improve conditions for their business. Only 2% are “somewhat” confident it will help.
•  91% are not confident the province can reduce its deficit in the coming years.

“These numbers confirm that Budget 2026 will make life more expensive for British Columbians and make the province a less competitive place to do business. With businesses having just endured their first full year of U.S. tariffs, these new taxes are pouring fuel on the fire.” said Ryan Mitton, CFIB’s Director of Legislative Affairs for B.C. “The B.C. government is asking local entrepreneurs to pay more, get less and somehow grow the economy anyway. Instead, Premier Eby must stop this tax and instead reign in spending.”

Last week, CFIB joined a coalition of business organizations across all sectors of the economy to urge Premier David Eby to scrap his ill-advised tax hike. With the province projecting a record $13.3 billion deficit, the coalition emphasized that the B.C. government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

“Small firms are already drowning in costs. The new PST on essential business services means higher bills for bookkeeping, security and property management. Our members tell us those costs will be passed to customers and cascade through the economy,” said Kalith Nanayakkara, Senior Policy Analyst for B.C. “If the government wants growth, it should stop taxing the very services businesses rely on to operate and invest.”

Survey results are based on responses received as of March 2, 2026, from 439 CFIB members who are owners of Canadian independent businesses, from all sectors and regions of British Columbia.

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For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Kalith Nanayakkara

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 100,000 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.