NDP leader pitches low interest mortgage loans for first-time homebuyers

PORT MOODY, B.C. — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh promised Sunday that a federal government led by him would offer first-time homebuyers access to low interest loans.

Singh said the federal government extends loans to “wealthy developers” but not to “everyday families,” and an NDP government would offer low interest loans to those who qualify for a mortgage but may not be able to afford bank rates.

“It’s never been done before, but if we can give loans to large, wealthy developers to buy buildings, to buy homes, why can’t we give everyday families a break?” he said.

Singh said that while first-time homebuyers would benefit from publicly-backed mortgage loans, the housing crisis calls for multiple approaches.

He said Canada still needs a mix of housing types, including co-operatives and non-profits, but low interest loans would help “keep the dream of home ownership alive.”

“Large corporations have been receiving low interest loans from the federal government,” he said. “Liberals and Conservatives have been giving them low interest loan loans for a long time, but they haven’t been helping a first time homebuyer buy their home. I think that’s wrong.”

The NDP leader campaigned in Port Moody, B.C. Sunday morning and was joined by the party’s candidates from several Lower Mainland ridings.

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Many of the party’s elected members of Parliament represent B.C. ridings — districts the federal Conservatives are looking to flip. Singh said British Columbians should “remember it’s New Democrats that beat Conservatives.”

Singh took aim at both Liberal Leader Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, comparing the choice between them to a choice between a “leaky roof or a cracked foundation.”

He said media reports suggesting the Conservative campaign is in “disarray internally” show they are “fighting each other instead of standing up for Canadians.”

Singh cited the federal dental care plan, pharmacare and anti-scab legislation as NDP accomplishments that the Liberal government “might be bragging about.”

“We actually made those things happen,” he said.

Later on Sunday, Singh attended the opening of the party’s regional campaign office in Burnaby, B.C., where he was greeted by dozens of supporters, with candidates and labour leaders among them.

The NDP Leader was introduced by BC Federation of Labour President Susanne Skidmore and Mark Hancock, the national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Skidmore said that B.C. families were already struggling with the cost of living before threat of tariffs, and told the crowd that fighting for “a worker first economy” is important “now more than ever.”

Hancock said he could “feel it in the air” that the campaign could take off like the “big wave” that swelled for the party under the late Jack Layton.

“Sometimes you’ve got to just ignore the polling,” he said.

Singh’s campaign then visited a Vancouver Filipino restaurant meeting with supporters, before making its way Vancouver Island on Monday before making its way east in the coming week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2025.