Canada: British Columbia pauses PST expansion to professional services
The province has not announced a revised effective date for the measure.
British Columbia has announced that it has paused the planned expansion of the provincial sales tax (PST) to certain professional services that was scheduled to take effect October 1, 2026. The province has not announced a revised effective date and indicated that implementation may be deferred until current trade uncertainties are resolved.
Background
British Columbia announced in its 2026 provincial budget that PST would be expanded to accounting services, engineering or geoscience services, architectural services, nonresidential real estate services, and security services. The province subsequently amended the PST rules to add these professional services as taxable services effective October 1, 2026, and introduced related transitional rules. Additional prescribed services and amendments to the PST regulations were released July 9, 2026.
PST expansion paused
The province has not canceled the PST expansion. British Columbia indicated that a temporary regulation will be introduced to effectively pause the measure, although it remains unclear when the regulation will be released, whether it will provide a new effective date, and whether additional guidance will address registration and compliance obligations.
Businesses that have already updated systems and processes for the October 1, 2026, implementation may need to pause those changes. Businesses that cannot reverse the changes before that date, or that collect PST in error on a PST-exempt professional service, may take steps to refund the tax.
Service providers that registered for B.C. PST because of the planned expansion will need to determine whether to maintain their registration or request cancellation while awaiting further developments.
Read a September 2026 report prepared by the KPMG member firm in Canada