Singh promises $5K rental support for Canadian families if elected – National | Globalnews.ca

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will provide $5,000 in rental support for families if he is elected prime minister in this year’s federal election.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Singh also vowed to “take big money out” of Canada’s housing market, saying he’ll enact a foreign ownership tax of 20 per cent on housing and ensure 500,000 affordable homes are built within the next ten years.

“Buying a home, renting a place to call home has gotten worse, not easier,” he said.

“I want to put a stop to that.”

Asked where the NDP would get the funds for the rental subsidy, Singh said he would “close loopholes” and increase taxes on wealthy corporations like Amazon, which don’t pay taxes in Canada.

Housing affordability has become top of the agenda on the campaign trail, after the rising cost of inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic saw thousands of Canadians evicted from their homes.

On Thursday, Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole pledged to create one million homes in the next three years by repurposing 15 per cent of federally-owned buildings, converting unused office space, banning foreign investors who live outside the country from buying property for at least two years and making changes to the mortgage stress test.

The Liberals have also promised to help keep housing affordable.

More to come. 

— with files from the Canadian Press