The NDP will unlock public land to build more homes people can afford

MONTREAL– Canada needs 6 million new homes. Today Jagmeet Singh unveiled the first step in the NDP plan to use every available lever to meet that target and make sure every Canadian can find a home they can afford - by unlocking public land to build rent-controlled homes.

“While working and middle-class families are being priced out of the market, big corporations are lining up to buy up homes, offices, and land at fire-sale prices,” said Singh. “The NDP is the only party, and I’m the only leader, who will fight to protect you and build homes you can afford.”

Singh spoke in front of public land that he also visited during the last federal election four years ago. It’s been shovel-ready since the day he was there in 2021 and yet there is still not a single home built. For the past 30 years Liberal and Conservative governments have only managed to build 85 homes per year on public land.

Singh pointed to the example of Brookfield, a major investment firm where Mark Carney served as Chair. Brookfield makes money by buying up distressed properties – including real estate - when people are struggling, then turning a profit. This is a business model that can make the housing crisis worse, by putting more homes into the hands of investors instead of families.

Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre has promised to sell off even more public land — directly into the hands of those same big firms — allowing them to keep driving up prices and pushing everyday people out of the market.

The NDP will:

• Set aside 100% of suitable federal crown land that we already own to build over 100,000 rent-controlled homes by 2035
• Redesign and double the Public Land Acquisition Fund, investing $1 billion over 5 years into acquiring more public land to build more rent-controlled homes on
• Publicly finance new construction – with a new Community Housing Bank to partner with non-profit developers, co-ops, and Indigenous communities
• Speed up approvals on lands owned by the federal government to get workers on site, shovels in the ground, and homes built sooner
• This measure will be implemented with the utmost respect for the inherent and Treaty rights of the Indigenous communities.
• Train 100,000 more people including newcomers, and people displaced by Donald Trump’s trade war in skilled trades and improve working conditions
• Use Project Labour Agreements, or Community Benefits Agreements to support good jobs and improve the impacts for communities

“Canadians deserve to live in a country where you can afford to build a good life,” said Singh. “That’s what we’re fighting for.”

Learn more about the NDP plan to fight for you.