NDP bill will cool rents by banning corps from buying homes people can afford

MONTREAL—Jagmeet Singh and Canada’s NDP will help cool skyrocketing rents by banning corporations from buying up apartment buildings that are still affordable for families.

The move will halt the juggernaut movement of “financialized landlords” that have been driving up rents across the country by buying up swaths of decent rental homes and converting them to high-priced luxury rentals. That prices people out of their own homes and drives up housing prices for the whole area.

Singh said his party will get it done by tabling a bill in the House of Commons this fall that bans corporations from buying any existing affordable apartments — homes that take up no more than 30 per cent of pretax household income. The sale of those homes would be restricted to people, non-profits, municipalities, agencies and co-ops.

Singh has also committed to stop corporate welfare for bad landlords, committing to stop low-interest loans, preferential tax treatment and mortgage loan insurance for big corporate landlords that rip renters off.

“The Canada I believe in is a nation where everyone can find a safe, affordable place to lay their head, and never lose sleep worrying that the next rent hike will mean they need to pack up and move again,” said Singh. “We can make that a reality—but only if we stop feeding corporate greed and start treating homes like they’re for people and families, not speculators and big money developers.”

Today, the biggest financial firms collectively own close to 400,000 homes—nearly 20 per cent of the rental units in Canada. That's up from zero in the mid-1990s.

Under Justin Trudeau, 370,000 homes that were affordable were sold off to rich developers. The average rent price has doubled in Canada since he took office.

But that pales in comparison to the Conservative Pierre Poilievre’s record. The one-time Housing Minister and his Conservative government allowed 800,000 affordable homes to be sold to rich development corporations, putting the people living there out in the cold.

Singh said that if the Liberals and Conservatives cave to corporate greed instead of passing the NDP’s bill, he will do it as Prime Minister.

“Solving the housing crisis is a top priority for the NDP, and Canadians. And together, we can build up housing and bring down rents,” said Singh. “Greedy CEOs have had their governments. It’s the people’s time.”