The majority of restaurant owners – 91 per cent – say a harmonized sales tax in British Columbia will negatively impact their business, according to a survey of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s 4,000 B.C. members.

Eighty-five per cent of respondents said the HST will have a “significantly negative” impact and six per cent said it would have a “slightly negative” impact. Only nine per cent responded that it will have no impact or a positive impact on business.

“The survey results echo what we’ve been hearing loud and clear in e-mails, phone calls and faxes from our members over the past two weeks,” says Mark von Schellwitz, CRFA vice-president Western Canada. “Adding a seven per cent PST onto the five per cent GST will more than double the sales tax on restaurant meals. This will result in a dramatic decrease in consumer spending on eating out.”

When asked specifically how the HST will impact their business, 90 per cent of respondents said their customers will cut back on spending, and 71 per cent said they will have to cut back on staff or staff hours.

“Restaurants are at the heart of every community in British Columbia, and an important employer for people of all ages and walks of life,” says Garth Whyte, CRFA president and CEO. “The HST announcement has created a great deal of uncertainty for our members. It is clear they are deeply concerned about the damage the HST will do to their business. We will be looking to the B.C. government and the federal government to fix this major tax shift onto the restaurant sector.”

The restaurant and foodservice industry is one of the largest employers in B.C., with 173,000 direct employees, including 80,000 young people under the age of 25.