Some B.C. business owners are taking aim at the province’s 2026 budget over changes they say will leave them paying more to protect their shops.
Under the new budget, the province is requiring some professional services to begin charging a provincial sales tax.
That includes businesses that provide security services, which were previously exempt from collecting the seven per cent tax.
Some business owners in downtown Victoria say the PST will add to the costs they already pay to keep their storefronts safe from crime and social disorder.
“It’s another thing, absolutely — it’s another hit, and they just keep coming,” Mary Lou Newbold, who owns the Mayfair Optometric Clinic, told Global News.
She said she is already paying about $1,000 a month in security costs and when the changes to the PST take effect on Oct. 1, that will cost her roughly another $1,000 each year.
Business owners say they are now struggling to figure out how to add those costs.
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“All businesses are sort of facing death by a thousand cuts,” Christina Clarke with the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce said.
“There are just so many expenses upon expenses. It’s a really challenging time for businesses.”
Themis Security, which provides private security for companies and does downtown patrols, said it is currently in a hiring freeze while it waits to see how the PST exemption removal affects businesses.
“For us, for our pricing as well, we are going to have to take into account that bills are going up substantially, more than a normal inflation rate,” René Rossignol with Themis Security said.
B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said the province’s PST rules have not kept pace and this change addresses that gap.
“B.C. has kind of fallen behind what attracts PST and so we looked at the other PST provinces and what they captured and what they didn’t and we aligned with them,” she said.
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