TORONTO — In a move that will surprise many, Ontario consumers will get a taste of the province’s dreaded new harmonized sales tax (HST) beginning Saturday, two full months before it is fully implemented.

The early start applies to all products and services to be consumed after the 13 per cent tax’s official start on July 1. Airline tickets for fall travel, for example, will be subject to the new blended HST, as will gym memberships, theatre tickets and a range of other goods and services.

(Click here for an HST calculator that will show you how much you'll pay)

“I think this takes people by surprise,” says David Docherty, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University and veteran Queen’s Park watcher.

Provincial revenue minister John Wilkinson on Thursday defended his decision not to publicize the early transitional start. He said the rules have been posted on a government website since October. He blamed businesses for failing to inform the public about the changes.

“The decision of businesses as to whether or not they marketed that is up to them,” he told reporters. “But this information has been available broadly to the public since (October).”

Satinder Chera, director of provincial affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, blasted Wilkinson for that response.

“That’s quite frankly a little rich,” Chera said. “This is their tax. This is their timeline … And they’re trying to take a back seat on this.”

The HST, which blends the five per cent GST with the eight per cent retail sales tax, is designed to shift the tax burden from business to consumers. The change will boost competitiveness in the province, adding jobs and increasing output, according to most economists.

However, it is deeply unpopular with consumers, who will pay eight per cent more on about one in five items previously exempt from the retail sales tax, including hair cuts, gym memberships, home heating bills and gas at the pump.

Many small- and medium-sized businesses are also against the tax, according to Chera. His members worry the sudden increase in costs will cause consumers to spend less money. At the same time, he says, they are afraid it will cause the underground cash economy to flourish.

Docherty believes innate unpopularity of the new tax is behind the government’s decision not to publicize the early transition. He says governments of various stripes typically advertise major changes of the kind happening now.

“They haven’t done any of that public advertising that usually you find in a sales tax type of policy change,” he said. “I think the government hoped it would be kind of a sleeper.”