Nico Slobinsky: PST on security means community organizations, including Jewish schools and synagogues, will have to pay extra to keep members safe while businesses and street festivals will also face rising costs.
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In May, I toured a Vancouver Jewish day school where one moment struck me: In the hallway between classes, we met the school’s therapy dogs.
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These dogs weren’t just a nice addition, but a necessity to calm distressed children who didn’t understand why their school needed enhanced security and a regular police presence.
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Imagine a child attending a Jewish school playing behind a high-security barrier, while children at the nearby public school enjoy recess without fear for their safety.
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Yet, this has become a normalized experience for the Jewish community after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks.
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According to a 2025 Jewish Federation of British Columbia survey, nearly two-thirds of community members experienced an antisemitic incident (62 per cent), and nine-in-10 (93 per cent) feel less secure.
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While law enforcement has been a steadfast partner, the B.C. Jewish community has always had to bear some cost of keeping itself safe.
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Before 2023, Jewish community organizations across Metro Vancouver spent less than $10,000 per month on security; three years later, we spend more than $200,000 per month.
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Not only have our synagogues, Jewish schools and community centres been forced to enhance security, but so have our community housing, social service agencies, summer camps, and arts and culture festivals.
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As we approach the Jewish High Holidays and the third year since the event that marked the beginning of this unprecedented wave of antisemitism, we are seeing a further cost increase coming.
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On Oct. 1, the provincial sales tax (PST) will be applied to professional services, including the security we have had to rely on to keep our community safe.
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That means our community organizations will have to pay at least another $168,000 annually to ensure families can send their children to school or daycare, seniors can access programming, community agencies can provide services to the vulnerable and worshippers can attend synagogue with some assurance.
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Those are desperately needed funds that won’t go toward providing healthy meals at the Jewish Food Bank, keeping rents affordable at community housing sites, subsidizing a Jewish education for children from low-income families or helping seniors, including Holocaust survivors, live a dignified retirement.
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These are hard choices that Jewish non-profits, charities and organizations in B.C. will feel acutely, but others will too.
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Small businesses, already dealing with economic uncertainty, will have to pay extra to keep employees and customers safe.
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Community and street festivals, often powered by volunteers and limited grant funding, will face challenges, including cancellations, as they celebrate local culture amid rising security costs after last year’s Lapu Lapu Day festival tragedy.
