Jagmeet Singh: Don’t Expect Carney to Stand Up to Corporate Landlords—He Made Millions as One

EDMONTON – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh met today with tenants in downtown Edmonton whose rents tripled after their building was bought by a corporate landlord in the summer of 2024 — part of a growing national trend of housing being treated like a profit machine instead of a place to live.

“Across the country, corporate landlords are snapping up buildings and driving up rents,” said Singh. “Mark Carney won’t stop it—his company, Brookfield, helped fuel it. They treat housing like a profit machine, not a place to live.”

In Edmonton, tenants of the historic Annamoe Mansion saw their rent triple after a corporate landlord bought the building in 2024. Residents—many of them seniors—were hit with increases of more than $1,000 a month, forcing them to choose between staying in their homes or being pushed out of their neighbourhoods.

These stories aren’t rare—they’re the result of a system that lets corporate landlords treat housing like a stock portfolio. And Mark Carney was at the centre of that system. As Chair of Brookfield, he oversaw a company that bought up buildings, raised rents, and cashed in—treating people’s homes like assets to be squeezed, not places to live with dignity.

“Housing shouldn’t be a playground for the ultra-rich to test investment strategies,” said Singh. “New Democrats will make national rent control a priority in the first budget. We won’t let Mark Carney put the profits of his wealthy friends ahead of families already struggling to keep a roof over their heads.”

National Rent Control must include:

• A Ban on fixed-term leases, renovictions, demovictions and other landlord practices aimed at pushing people out of their homes and driving up rents;
• A Ban on AI-driven price fixing on rents by landlords;
• Recognition of the right of tenant unions to negotiate with landlords.

Singh also highlighted his commitment to stop corporate landlords like Mark Carney’s Brookfield from buying up homes and hiking your rent. The NDP would:

• Ban corporations from buying existing affordable rental buildings
• Cut off handouts – including low-interest federal loans, preferential tax treatment and mortgage loan insurance - for big corporate landlords who gouge their tenants
• Boost the Rental Protection Fund – to help non-profits purchase affordable apartments when they come onto the market.