Acknowledging the threat of a recession caused by U.S. tariffs, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is proposing spending billions of dollars on affordable housing if his party forms government.
Singh pitched his plan at a pub surrounded by local candidates in Toronto’s Liberty Village. The NDP plan would replace the current Housing Accelerator Fund with a $16-billion fund for provinces and municipalities to focus on affordable housing.
“We have found throughout history that you don’t cut your way out of a recession. That just makes the pain even worse,” Singh told reporters. “What you have to do is invest in people.”
The NDP plans to double the current rate of homebuilding in Canada to build 3 million homes by 2030. The Housing Accelerator Fund would be replaced by two others called the Canada Homes Transfer and the Communities First Fund, which would provide $8 billion each over four years to provisional and municipal governments to kick start homebuilding and infrastructure for communities.
“These investments are going to create jobs in Canada that are not dependent on the United States,” said Singh. “Building infrastructure in communities so we can build more homes that create local jobs, and it builds up our country.”
Monday’s housing announcement follows one he made on Sunday, where an NDP government would impose national rent controls. Asked what motivation private investors would have to invest private capital into projects at a large scale if they can’t charge market rents, Singh said he would only invest the money if housing remained affordable.
“What’s the point of spending massive amounts of federal money just to have homes that have no rent control, no protection for tenants, no laws against rent eviction and we lose all the affordable homes we already have,” Singh said.
To pay for the $16-billion program, the NDP plans to crack down on offshore tax havens. Singh claims $30 billion a year could be recouped by the Canada Revenue Agency annually in unpaid taxes as a result of loopholes and tax havens used by Canadians and businesses that operate in Canada.
“Just collecting what we’re owed could increase revenue significantly,” Singh said.
