The provincial government is considering a change to the tobacco tax.
The PST will drop to 7 per cent on July 1st and Manitoba has introduced the Tobacco Tax Amendment Act to keep the retail price of tobacco the same.
If passed, the tax on each cigarette would rise from 29.5 cents to 30 cents, fine cut tobacco would rise to 45.5 cents from 45, and raw leaf tobacco products would have a 27.5 cents tax, up from 27 cents.
Finance Minister Scott Fielding says this approach is consistent with what the federal government did when they reduced the GST.
The proposed amendments to The Tobacco Tax Act would come into effect on July 1 if the bill receives royal assent before the legislative assembly rises on June 3, or on Nov. 15 if it receives royal assent on or after July 1.
This chart gives a visual on how the change will affect tobacco prices:
