British Columbia pauses the 1 October PST expansion to professional services
This change is proposed and is not law. The rules below describe what would change if it is adopted.
This page records one dated change. For the rules in Canada as they stand today, see the Canada guide →
- Jurisdiction
- Canada (British Columbia)
- Tax
- PST
- Change type
- Update
- Status
- Proposed
- Impact
- Action required
- Announced
- 18 September 2026
- Authority
- Government of British Columbia (Office of the Premier and Ministry of Finance)
- Systems
- Tax engine, Invoicing, ERP
- Verified
- Fetched from official source · medium confidence
Accounting/bookkeeping, architectural, geoscience and engineering firms, non-residential real-estate services, and security/private-investigation providers in BC that were preparing to charge 7% PST from 1 October 2026.
Do not switch on 7% BC PST for professional services on 1 October 2026; hold the existing exemption and watch for the temporary regulation.
Tax engineInvoicingERP
On 18 September 2026 the Government of British Columbia announced that it intends to delay the expansion of the 7% provincial sales tax to professional services that had been scheduled to take effect on 1 October 2026. The province states the expansion will be paused through a temporary regulation, so that the PST exemption is maintained for accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, geoscientist and engineering services, non-residential real estate commissions and services, and security and private investigation services. No pausing regulation had been located as at 2026-09-21.
What changed in detail
No regulation has been found giving this effect. The only source for the pause is the Government of British Columbia’s own 18 September 2026 news release: it says government “intends to delay” the 7% Provincial Sales Tax expansion to professional services that had been scheduled for 1 October 2026, and that the delay will be implemented “through a temporary regulation.” As at 21 September 2026, no such regulation had been located.
The exemption the release describes — accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, geoscientist and engineering services, non-residential real-estate commissions and services, and security and private-investigation services — matches what the Budget Measures Implementation Act, 2026 had been due to remove on 1 October. Nine days before that date, the province is announcing an intention, not publishing a legal instrument.
This corrects the earlier entry, which reported the 1 October expansion as scheduled and proceeding. It is not yet in force, and it is not yet paused by anything with legal effect — only by a press release saying one is coming.
What it means
Do not switch 7% PST on for these services on 1 October, but do not treat the exemption as settled either. A press release is a strong signal of intent from the government that controls the regulation-making power, but until the regulation is made, a business that already reprogrammed billing for 1 October carries risk in both directions: charging PST that turns out not to be owed, or not charging PST that turns out to still be owed if the regulation slips past 1 October.
Watch the BC Regulations Deposited index directly rather than re-reading this announcement; that is where the actual instrument — not another announcement — will appear.
Proof
In response to new and ongoing international trade disruptions and the economic uncertainty they are creating, government intends to delay the PST expansion to professional services that had been scheduled to take effect on Oct. 1, 2026.
Source snapshot of the official page. Open full size ↗