- Party Website
- Election Platform
- Leader – Tom Mulcair
- Housing Critic – Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet
The NDP has not released their full housing platform but expect to do that in the coming days. They have however, made several housing announcements beginning in June with a speech given by leader Tom Mulcair to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. They have also included housing issues in a news brief about affordable housing and a report on fiscal spending commitments released mid-September called “A Balanced Fiscal Plan with Tom Mulcair”.
Homelessness and housing issues have also been mentioned in other plans, speeches, electoral debates and in the past. Their initial platform material also mentions housing in connection with overall infrastructure.
The NDP provided COH with the table below to help us understand the various announcements. They say, “This table will help you piece together what we have said and how various local campaigns, housing websites, and stakeholders have added up the numbers in different ways. At the FCM we had included homelessness partnerships with housing agreements giving a total of $2.2 billion. Adding rental housing makes the total $2.725 billion. The Shelter Enhancement program funding was announced in Saskatoon in August as part of a commitment to advance gender equality.”
This is all new funding over and above existing commitments made by the current government.
| Commitment in millions | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | Total |
| Restore and Reinvest in Housing Agreements | $430 | $500 | $575 | $640 | $2,145 |
| Homelessness Partnerships | $10 | $10 | $10 | $10 | $40 |
| Rental Housing Grants and Loans | $500 | - | - | - | $500 |
| Shelter Enhancement Program | $10 | $10 | $10 | $10 | $40 |
| More to come with the platform | - | - | - | - | - |
During the leaders’ debate on the economy on September 17th, Tom Mulcair said, “The last time the Liberals were in power, they cancelled Canada's National Housing Strategy. It's also worth noting there are 35,000 homeless people in Canada right now…We would put more money in people’s pockets with quality, affordable child care and to the hundred thousand people that we would give a raise with a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour. Somebody who works full-time shouldn't be living in poverty.”
This analysis is based on a review of past actions in the House of Commons, responses to the CACHC and ACTO surveys, current election announcements and answers to questions provided by an NDP staff policy analyst.