After the provincial government announced this year’s budget, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) says that B.C.’s fiscal situation is grim.

The business association assigned the budget a “D” – the lowest letter grade in over six years.

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The GVBOT says it is especially concerned about levy increases by expanding the number of businesses that have to pay the Provincial Sales Tax (PST).

The budget provides that professional services, such as accounting and bookkeeping, architectural, engineering, geoscientist, and commercial real-estate fees, will no longer be exempt from having to pay PST starting Oct. 1, 2026.

Bridgitte Anderson, GVBOT’s CEO, tells 1130 NewsRadio that modest investments over the last few years are cancelled out by those tax hikes, which will impact everyone in the province.

“When you look at the incentive for the tax credit around manufacturing and processing, it looks like a positive step, but it is more than offset by $4 billion in new taxes,” she said.

The GVBOT, which represents business owners across Metro Vancouver, evaluates the budget based on three core principles: fiscal management, economic growth, and competitiveness.

Anderson says that B.C. has dug itself a “deep hole.”

“The cost alone to service the debt is at $9 billion. How on earth is any credit rating agency going to look at this and not do another downgrade to British Columbia? And so we were really hoping to see a path to a more sustainable fiscal situation.”

She adds that the government failed to come up with a sustainable plan to stabilize the province’s finances.

The budget is expected to reach a record-high deficit of $13.3 billion in the 2026/27 fiscal year.

“It reflects the deteriorating fiscal situation that we are in and a lack of a path to get us out of that,” Anderson said.