NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announces plan to urgently build more homes that fit Torontonians’ budgets

Over the past year, average rents in Toronto have increased by an alarming 22 per cent and a family now needs to earn over half a million dollars annually to afford a house.

TORONTO – On Tuesday, a few days after Justin Trudeau said that he would not provide additional funding for Toronto, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on the prime minister to stop finger pointing and get to work to build more homes for people, faster in Toronto.

The lack of affordable homes is a factor fueling the housing crisis in Canada’s largest city. Between 2016 and 2021, Toronto saw a net loss of 7,195 homes. With newly elected Mayor Olivia Chow who campaigned on building a city everyone can afford to live in, Singh says it’s time Toronto had a better partner at the federal level.

“Everyone should be able to find a place they can afford that fits their family’s needs, but right now it is too expensive or there’s nothing available. Toronto shouldn’t only be for the one per cent,” said Singh. “For eight years, Justin Trudeau has promised to tackle the housing crisis, but things just keep getting worse. Rent and house prices have increased by more than 60 per cent under his leadership.

And – make no mistake — Pierre Poilievre’s so-called housing plan will just make rich investors and developers even richer. Torontonians need real solutions, so they aren’t getting priced out of the city they love.”

Under the current Liberal government, Canada has the most expensive housing market and lowest housing stock per capita among G7 nations. So far, Justin Trudeau has only spent 38 per cent of the housing funding he promised.

In order to build more homes faster in Toronto, Singh proposed removing the federal portion of GST and HST on the development of new affordable homes and using federal land strictly to build rental or first-time homebuyers’ homes that truly fit in people’s budget.

“Toronto needs a real partner at the federal level, not one who is interested in promising things just for show instead of delivering the results the city and the country needs,” said Singh. “The federal government has the tools to play a stronger role, but the Liberals have to stop prioritizing the profits of those who use the housing market to get rich instead of doing what’s best for working people.”