NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants to tie federal funding to immigration levels

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants to use the agreement his party has with the federal Liberals to push for tying funding for housing to immigration levels.

“We, of course, need immigration. Any chamber of commerce that I’ve gone to and in any kind of industry, folks have mentioned the need for additional workforce and this requires additional immigration,” said Singh.

But he added that “where there is higher immigration or there are more folks coming in, we also (need to) make sure there are more dollars being spent so there are places for people to live and we don’t just see an exacerbation of an already difficult housing market crisis.”

Singh’s comments come as provincial NDP leaders and the real estate industry in B.C. have been asking Ottawa to connect its spending on housing initiatives with plans to accept half a million new permanent residents by 2025 to cope with an extremely tight labour market and the need for people with certain skills, experience and education.