Want to pay less tax? Move to Alberta

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Ryan Dahlman

Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial sales tax. It’s the city on the hill for taxpayers—shining bright while everyone else stumbles under the weight of checkout-line tax grabs.

While the federal government charges a five per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on most purchases, provinces can layer on their own Provincial Sales Tax (PST), applied to everything from clothing to event tickets. Alberta skips that second tax hit entirely.

Taxpayers across the West should be fed up. Nearly half their paycheques go up in smoke thanks to a growing stack of taxes: income taxes, fuel taxes, property taxes, business taxes, carbon taxes, capital gains taxes—and, of course, sales taxes. In every province but Alberta, the PST piles on top of the GST at the till.

Sales taxes hit lower-income earners harder. It doesn’t matter if you make $10,000 or $1 million a year—the tax bite is the same percentage. But if you’re earning less, the chunk taken out of your wallet hurts a lot more.

That’s why Alberta’s PST-free status is more than just a philosophical win: it saves families real money. Consider this: Alberta is home to more than 825,000 students heading back to class. Parents are expected to spend about $788 per student on school supplies, according to Deloitte.

Even if Alberta parents spend just half that, they’re saving roughly $27 in PST per child. Provincewide, that’s a collective $22.6 million saved on back-to-school shopping alone. No seven per cent PST slapped on clothes, shoes, backpacks, notebooks, lunch bags, laptops or phones.

Alberta’s lack of a PST isn’t an accident. It’s part of the province’s long-standing “low-tax, small government” tradition—an approach to fiscal policy that stands out in Canada. And it’s not easy to change. The Taxpayer Protection Act, passed in 1995, legally requires any Alberta government to win a referendum before introducing a PST—effectively putting the question to voters, not politicians.

But Alberta is the exception, not the rule. In neighbouring Saskatchewan, for example, the provincial government is doing the exact opposite.

Taxpayers there will cough up more than $3.3 billion in PST this year. A family earning $75,000 pays about $2,100 in PST annually. Why? Because the Saskatchewan government keeps widening the net. In 2017, it hiked the PST from five to six per cent and removed exemptions for used cars, restaurant meals and children’s clothing. In 2022, it even started charging PST on event tickets—yes, the government wants its cut when you go watch the Riders.

And it gets worse when it comes to used cars. If the vehicle is worth more than $5,000, the government demands its six per cent PST—no matter how many times it changes hands. Buy a $10,000 used car? Add another $600 to the tab. Doesn’t matter how old the car is or how many times it’s been sold. The provincial government is always there, hand out, ready to take more.

When it comes to the PST, provincial governments are downright relentless.

It’s the same story in British Columbia. Back in 2004, the B.C. government noticed that savvy shoppers were timing their big-ticket purchases to coincide with Alberta vacations, saving hundreds on appliances by crossing the PST-free border. Former premier Gordon Campbell’s government reportedly tried to get Alberta retailers to report customers with B.C. plates—take photos of the licence plates, send in sales receipts and help B.C. collect its seven per cent PST. Alberta store owners told them, politely, to pound sand.

That wasn’t B.C.’s only sales tax misfire. A few years later, the province’s attempt to switch to a harmonized sales tax (HST) triggered a massive backlash, ultimately forcing the government to repeal it after a successful referendum in 2011. That shows just how politically toxic sales taxes can be when voters get a say.

Despite all this, some Alberta academics and politicians still keep muttering about bringing in a PST. With rising deficits and growing spending pressures, there’s talk of a sales tax as a way to boost revenue. Before they get too excited, they might want to look at their neighbours and ask whether punishing low-income families at the till is really the kind of legacy they want.

Saskatchewan and B.C. should look to Alberta and take notes. Alberta is proving that life without a sales tax is not only possible—it’s a tax break that puts real money back into the hands of families.

Kris Sims is the Alberta director and Gage Haubrich is the Prairie director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

© Troy Media