The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is urging Canadians to take advantage of the federal government’s temporary suspension of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) before it ends on Saturday.
“Even though this temporary tax holiday was a political gimmick, folks should still stock up now to save on the GST,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).
“Ottawa needs to do more than temporary sales tax holidays, which means politicians must find real savings so taxes can go down permanently.”
The federal government implemented the temporary tax holiday on Dec. 14, 2024, eliminating sales tax on a range of goods, including food, alcoholic beverages, restaurant meals, children’s clothing, car seats, diapers, toys, Christmas trees, and books.
However, with the return of GST and Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), prices are set to rise again.
“The government shouldn’t be taxing your baby’s diapers or picture-books,” Binda said. “And restaurants across Canada need long-term tax relief instead of a GST holiday gimmick.”
According to data from Restaurants Canada, nearly 62% of Canadian restaurants are operating at a loss or barely breaking even. The reinstated GST will add 5% to restaurant meals in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Territories, and Quebec, while Ontario will see a 13% HST and the Atlantic provinces will experience a 15% increase.
The end of the tax break will also raise the cost of alcohol. A case of beer is expected to increase by an average of $4.40 across Canada, with provinces using a harmonized sales tax seeing the largest hikes. In Nova Scotia, for example, a case of beer will jump by $8.04 once the GST holiday concludes.
“Taxpayers and job creators need tax relief from Ottawa,” Binda said. “The government needs to go line-by-line through the federal budget to find real savings for taxpayers.”