Saturday, July 03, 2010

HST arrives in British Columbia and Ontario on Canada Day


It wasn't all festivities and fireworks on Canada Day for folks in British Columbia and Canada.

July 1, 2010 also marked the day when the HST went into effect in the two provinces.

HST, which stands for the lyrical-sounding Harmonized Sales Tax, means different things depending which province you're in. Here's an explanation via Canwest News Service:
On July 1, Ontario and B.C. will both replace the GST and provincial sales tax with the HST on services including haircuts, Internet service, cemetery plots and in Ontario, gasoline. But, some prices go up and others go down, and it depends on which province you live in.
CTV reports that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is welcoming the HST and fuel price increase. Is that a surprise?

Sign in Vancouver, BC during the 2010 Winter Olympics
Photo by Sue Frause

2 comments:

Canuck Comments said...

Despite what is written here, Canada is not a province! Difficult to distinguish between the provinces and territories, I know, for our southern neighbours. It should read, the HST arrived in British Columbia and ONTARIO on Canada Day.

SUE FRAUSE said...

Huh? Isn't that what I stated in the headline: "HST arrives in British Columbia and Ontario on Canada Day"? Which means your comment "Despite what is written here, Canada is not a province!" doesn't make any sense. Can you elaborate, please?

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