When the GST holiday went into effect just before winter late last year, Daniel Edler says his ice cream shop didn’t exactly benefit from an avalanche of sales.
“I didn’t see customers pouring in just to save a little bit of GST,” said Edler, owner of 49 Below Ice Cream in Victoria.
While ice cream isn’t a hot commodity during the cold months, Edler was not alone among small business owners.
Only five per cent of small businesses across Canada saw stronger sales this past January compared to the same month last year, according to a Feb. 11 report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“We had to go through our entire online inventory and turn tax off on certain things, but not other things,” said Edler. “We sell ice cream, but we also sell merchandise – the merchandise was not included. So now, I have to go back in there and I'll turn it back on.”
Data shows the two-month tax holiday, which ends Saturday, hasn’t been particularly fruitful for B.C. businesses.
Moneris Solutions Corp. said the province saw a two-per-cent dip in total spending year-over-year between Dec. 14, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
Transactions decreased one per cent and transaction sizes decreased two per cent, according to a Tuesday report from the payments processor.
Children’s sector benefits
But the GST break did have a positive impact on the sales of some B.C. businesses.
“I feel pretty confident saying that, yes, it did make a difference,” said Winnie Hsu, owner of Little Treasures Kids, adding clothing sales drove gains at its Granville Island location.
She said the shop had a good holiday season compared with the prior year mainly because of increased foot traffic around Granville Island.
Hsu said the timing of the tax break, when people are already out shopping during the holidays, also helped.
“When you spend a few hundred dollars, any type of savings right now are a benefit to families,” she said. “We do tell [customers] that we still have this GST holiday – it's five per cent that you're saving. We do see the change in buying patterns once we prompt this.”
Nevertheless, Hsu said the tax break worked more like a perk rather than an incentive for shoppers.
The Moneris report found children and infant clothing stores countrywide saw an eight-per-cent increase in transactions compared with the same period last year.
As certain children’s items are already exempt from PST, Hsu said making tax breaks frequent or even permanently removing GST could be beneficial for families.
The CFIB’s online survey was conducted Jan. 9-31 with 2,345 respondents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.02 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
