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Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, “GVBOT Launches Campaign to Stop PST Expansion,” May 8, 2026 — read the release. B.C. government guidance on PST for engineering and geoscience services — read the tax notice.

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade has opened a new front against David Eby’s budget. Its “Stop the Squeeze” campaign urges the B.C. government to reverse the planned expansion of the provincial sales tax to several professional services starting October 1, 2026.

This is not a symbolic fight over a boutique tax. The affected services include accounting and bookkeeping, security and private investigation work, non-residential real estate services, and portions of architecture, engineering and geoscience work. Those are core costs inside housing projects, public infrastructure, resource development and ordinary business compliance.

The province confirms the tax mechanics

The B.C. government’s own guidance says Budget 2026 expanded PST to certain professional services effective October 1, 2026. For engineering and geoscience, the province says PST will apply at seven per cent on an amount equal to 30 per cent of the purchase price. In plain English: a $100,000 taxable engineering bill would carry $2,100 in PST.

The Board of Trade says other service categories — accounting, bookkeeping, assurance, security, private investigation, and non-residential real estate services — face PST on the full purchase price. It argues the tax is especially damaging because B.C.’s PST is not refundable to businesses in the way value-added taxes are. That means the cost can be embedded into project budgets and passed along to customers, tenants, homebuyers or taxpayers.

What the campaign says is at stake

  • October 1, 2026: planned effective date for the PST expansion.
  • 30% tax base: engineering, geoscience and architecture services under the announced structure.
  • 100% tax base: accounting/bookkeeping, security/private investigation, and non-residential real estate services, according to GVBOT.
  • $275,000: estimated added upfront cost on an average 300-unit rental building, cited by GVBOT from UDI.
  • $3.7 million: estimated added annual cost for one mining operator on a $155-million services spend, cited by GVBOT from the Mining Association of B.C.

Another cost layered onto a housing crisis

The NDP keeps promising faster housing approvals, stronger infrastructure and a more competitive economy. But builders, engineers, accountants and major project proponents are now being told their required professional services will be more expensive. That is not an affordability plan. It is a cost-shift.

GVBOT president and CEO Bridgitte Anderson warned the tax would make it harder to build homes, operate businesses, keep workers safe and attract major project investment. The campaign also says provincial revenues have already grown 48 per cent since 2020 and argues Budget 2026 adds more than $4 billion in new business taxes.

The bottom line: at the exact moment British Columbia needs cheaper housing, more infrastructure and stronger private investment, the NDP is adding a new cost layer to the professional work required to get projects built. The Board of Trade is right to call it a squeeze.