Jagmeet Singh will make housing more affordable for families

BURNABY – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh vowed today to get big money out of Canada’s housing market and help young Canadians and families buy a home they can afford.

“Every day, I hear from young people and their parents who worry they will never be able to afford to own a decent home,” said Jagmeet. “They can barely afford to pay rent, let alone compete against big money investors in the housing market. Justin Trudeau will keep protecting the interests of the ultra-rich, but I’m ready to make the dream of owning a home a reality for Canadian families.”

Justin Trudeau allowed rent to skyrocket and housing prices to balloon by more than 20 per cent in less than a year in Vancouver. He has let investors and corporations, often from overseas, take over the market and drive up the cost of housing in communities across Canada. In many cases they leave the houses empty while families struggle to find a place to live.

Jagmeet was joined by Burnaby North-Seymor candidate Jim Hanson in Burnaby to outline the NDP’s housing plan.

Jagmeet and the NDP would go after big money investors by putting a 20 per cent Foreign Buyer’s tax on the sale of homes to individuals who are not Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents. He would target money laundering and organized crime within the housing sector by making it harder to hide behind nameless companies and giving regulators more teeth.

An NDP government would also build 500,000 affordable homes in ten years.

“Mr. Trudeau has stood by while housing prices have spun out of control. We need to kick out big money investors to make room for working families and young people,” said Jagmeet. “No one can win a bidding war against investors with deep pockets who are looking to turn a profit, not build a neighbourhood.”