New Democratic Party

Leader

Avi Lewis

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Positions on Issues

• AI & Technology Regulation

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports stronger federal regulation of AI systems including a substantively strengthened version of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA, third part of the 44-1 Bill C-27 that died on the Order Paper) with mandatory pre-deployment risk assessments, public-sector transparency on government AI use under the federal Directive on Automated Decision-Making, federal authority to ban high-risk AI applications, full implementation of the modernized Privacy Act for public-sector data handling, and stronger oversight of CSE bulk-collection programs through NSIRA (National Security and Intelligence Review Agency).

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• Affordable Internet & Digital Equity

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh has called for a federal cap on wireless prices (Canadian wireless prices average roughly 1.6 times the OECD average), full Universal Broadband Fund acceleration to deliver 50/10 Mbps service to all of rural Canada by 2027 from the current 2030 target, mandatory MVNO access at regulated rates under expanded CRTC authority, federal financial-assistance for low-income internet bills, and a federal Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights codifying net-neutrality, transparent pricing, and contract-termination protections.

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• Agriculture & Food Security

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh has called for a federal Grocery Code of Conduct made mandatory under statute (the voluntary version was released June 2023 with major-grocer commitment to a Grocery Code Adjudicator role; the NDP wants it codified). Supports the National School Food Program (delivered through the 2024 federal budget at $1B over 5 years targeting 400K children), opposes the Smith UCP Alberta's livestock-handling regulation rollback, supports expansion of the Local Food Infrastructure Fund, federal financial assistance for Canadian farms transitioning to lower-emissions practices (Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership 2023-2028 $3.5B), and the Canadian Wheat Board single-desk authority restoration (eliminated 2012 by Harper).

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• Arts, Culture & Heritage

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh calls for increased CBC/Radio-Canada base funding to bring per-capita federal funding closer to the BBC benchmark (Canada at approximately $33 per resident annually versus UK at $115 for BBC), restoration of Canadian Heritage funding to print and digital newsrooms (the Local Journalism Initiative had $50 million over five years; NDP pushes for $300 million renewal), full implementation of the Online News Act (S.C. 2023, c. 23) including the federal-Google agreement worth $100 million annually to Canadian publishers (signed November 2023 after Meta's block of Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram August 1, 2023), and a National Indigenous Arts Strategy.

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• Climate & Environment

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act (S.C. 2021, c. 22) targeting net-zero by 2050, calls for a more ambitious 50-percent emissions-reduction target below 2005 levels by 2030 (versus the federal 40 to 45 percent target), supports the federal Clean Electricity Regulations 2035 net-zero electricity target, opposes the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion (TMX, completed 2024 at federal cost of approximately $34 billion versus the original $7.4 billion 2018 estimate), supports a Just Transition Act stronger than Bill C-50, and a federal Climate Bond Framework for green-investment scaling.

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• Climate Adaptation & Disaster Response

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh has called for tripling the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) funding ceiling (currently approximately $100 million per major event), establishment of a permanent Canadian Wildfire Service (currently provincial responsibility under the federal disaster framework), federal financial assistance for residential climate-resilience retrofits in flood-prone, wildfire-prone, and tornado-prone communities, full implementation of the National Adaptation Strategy (released November 2023 with $1.6 billion in 2024 budget funding), and binding climate-risk-disclosure requirements for federally regulated financial institutions through OSFI.

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• Cost of Living

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh secured the temporary doubling of the GST credit for six months under Bill C-30 of 44-1 (S.C. 2022, c. 17, royal assent October 18, 2022), pushed for the Grocery Code of Conduct that the federal government released in voluntary form in 2023, and made permanent GST removal from essential goods (groceries, home heating, internet) a leadership-campaign commitment in 2025. Supports federal rent caps, a windfall-profit tax on grocery chains earning over $1 billion in net income, and expanded refundable Canada Disability Benefit beyond the current $200 per month.

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• Crime & Public Safety

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supported Bill C-48 (Bail Reform Act, S.C. 2023, c. 30) reverse-onus on repeat-violent-offence bail, and Bill C-5 (Mandatory Minimum Penalties reform, S.C. 2022, c. 15) eliminating most mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offences, calls for federal funding for community-based crime-prevention programs, expanded victims-of-crime supports beyond the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (S.C. 2015, c. 13, s. 2), federal-Gun-Buyback Program completion (the May 2020 Order-in-Council banned approximately 1,500 firearm models with buyback delayed to 2024 then further delayed), and stronger federal-Border-Services enforcement against firearms smuggling at the Canada-US border.

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• Democratic Renewal & Electoral Reform

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports proportional representation (specifically Mixed-Member Proportional as recommended by the 2017 House Special Committee on Electoral Reform), lowering the federal voting age to 16 (Bills C-227 of 44-1 and C-210 of 45-1, both NDP-supported), citizen-initiated referendums on constitutional questions, mandatory voting (compulsory turnout as in Australia and Belgium), stronger third-party-advertising disclosure under the Canada Elections Act, and the Confidence and Supply Agreement framework for hung Parliaments (the 2022-2025 NDP-Liberal SCA was the most prominent recent example). The Trudeau Liberal government broke its 2015 electoral-reform commitment in 2017.

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• Digital Rights

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh has called for amendments to the Online Streaming Act (Bill C-11, S.C. 2023, c. 8) to better protect user-generated content from CRTC regulatory reach, opposes mandatory age-verification systems requiring document upload as in C-63 (Online Harms Act), supports net-neutrality codification in federal statute (currently a CRTC policy, not a binding law), and demands stronger oversight of CSE (Communications Security Establishment) bulk-collection programs through the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).

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• Disability & Senior Care

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh secured the Canada Disability Benefit Act (Bill C-22 of 44-1, S.C. 2023, c. 17) as a deliverable of the Liberal-NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement but the $200-per-month initial delivery falls short of the NDP's $2,400-per-year (approximately $200 per month) commitment from the 2021 election platform versus a higher target of $4,200 to match the federal poverty line. Calls for expansion of OAS for 65 to 74 to match the 2022 boost (Bill C-12, S.C. 2022, c. 5), federal funding for long-term-care facilities tied to public-administration standards under a National Standards Act, and the Canadian Dental Care Plan expansion beyond the current 70-percent coverage cap.

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• Drug Policy & Harm Reduction

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports full decriminalization of personal-use possession of all currently controlled substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (S.C. 1996, c. 19), expansion of supervised-consumption sites and prescribed-safer-supply programs (Canada saw 47,162 apparent opioid-toxicity deaths between January 2016 and June 2024 per Public Health Agency of Canada), federal funding for harm-reduction infrastructure, opposes the Smith UCP Alberta's 2024 dismantling of Alberta's prescribed-safer-supply program, and supports the federal section 56 exemption framework under the CDSA for BC's January 2023-onward decriminalization pilot extending to 2026.

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• Economy & Jobs

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh frames the Canadian economy as suffering from corporate concentration in grocery (the Competition Bureau's June 2023 Retail Grocery Market Study found Loblaw, Sobeys/Empire, and Metro control approximately 60 percent of Canadian grocery sales), telecommunications (Bell, Rogers, Telus 90 percent wireless market share), and air travel. Calls for sectoral bargaining (collective agreements covering all workers in a sector, not just unionized employers), a windfall-profit tax on oil and gas, grocers, and banks reporting over $1 billion in profit, support for the EV-battery industrial cluster around Windsor-Bécancour-Edmonton (Honda Alliston EV plant, $4.2K direct jobs, NDP-supported subsidies), and stronger Competition Act enforcement.

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• Education

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh secured the permanent zero interest on Canada Student Loans (Bill C-47, S.C. 2023, c. 26, sections 196 to 199, effective April 1, 2023) as a key deliverable of the Liberal-NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement, calls for federal student-loan debt cancellation up to $20,000 per borrower, federal funding parity for on-reserve K-12 education with provincial systems (currently 30 to 50 percent underfunded per Auditor General reports), expanded EI eligibility for international students who have worked in Canada under the Post-Graduate Work Permit, and permanent residency pathways for international students after two years of study and work.

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• Federalism & Quebec

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports a cooperative-federalism framework that recognizes Quebec's distinct status while maintaining federal social-program delivery in Quebec where it complements provincial services. Voted in favour of the November 2021 Commons motion recognizing Quebec as a nation. Opposes the Trudeau-Carney Liberal pattern of asymmetrical federal-provincial healthcare and child-care bilateral agreements that the NDP says weaken federal-program universality. Defends federal employment-insurance jurisdiction over Quebec workers, opposes Quebec separatism, and pushes for stronger Indigenous-federal-provincial tripartite governance models including in Quebec.

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• Foreign Policy & Defence

  Supports humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Ukraine but opposes increased weapons spending. Has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to military exports to Israel; opposes Canadian participation in nuclear-weapons sharing arrangements.

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• Gender Equality & Reproductive Rights

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports codified access to abortion under federal statute (currently the SCC's R. v. Morgentaler (1988) ruling left abortion lawful but provinces have varying access), full implementation of the Pay Equity Act (S.C. 2018, c. 27) including federal-public-sector pay-equity audit accountability, federal funding parity for women's-shelter capacity, federal Crown-corporation gender-pay-gap reporting under the Employment Equity Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. 23, 2nd Supp.), and protection of trans rights as enumerated under section 15 of the Charter. Maintains the federal $200 per month Canada Disability Benefit floor as a starting point for trans persons facing employment discrimination.

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• Healthcare

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh secured the federal Pharmacare Act (Bill C-64, S.C. 2024, c. 20, royal assent October 10, 2024) as a key deliverable of the Liberal-NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement, with phase one covering contraceptives and diabetes medications under federal-provincial bilateral agreements (BC signed February 27, 2025). Calls for expansion to phase two universal pharmacare covering all essential drugs, the Canadian Dental Care Plan expansion beyond the current 70-percent coverage cap, a separate federal Mental Health Transfer of $5 billion over five years outside the Canada Health Transfer, and an end to for-profit private clinics taking publicly funded surgical contracts.

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• Housing

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh frames the housing crisis as a market failure where investors compete with families, calling for a federal Acquisition Fund (similar to BC's HousingHub) to buy existing apartment buildings before they convert to condos, federal Renoviction prohibitions in federally regulated housing, a national ban on Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) holding more than 1 percent of any provincial rental market, restoration of the National Housing Strategy's social-housing budget allocations cut under the 2024 federal budget, and a windfall-profit tax on builders charging over the average regional rent.

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• Immigration

  The federal NDP supports lowering the temporary-foreign-worker share of the labour force (the Migrant Workers Alliance reported approximately 4.5 percent in 2024, up from 2.2 percent in 2018), expanded family-reunification permit caps including the Parents and Grandparents Program lottery replacement with a first-come-first-served queue, expanded refugee resettlement quotas for Sudan and Afghanistan, and full provincial nominee program funding parity. Opposes the Liberal-Conservative consensus on the post-March 2023 Safe Third Country Agreement closure of Roxham Road as having pushed asylum-seekers into more dangerous crossings.

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• Indigenous Rights

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports binding implementation timelines for all 94 TRC Calls to Action (the Yellowhead Institute's annual progress report has tracked under 14 percent fully implemented in eight years), legislated end to Indigenous boil-water advisories with a fixed federal deadline (the Trudeau government missed its 2021 commitment; 28 advisories remained active January 2025), full implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (S.C. 2021, c. 14) with binding consultation thresholds, federal funding parity for on-reserve K-12 education with provincial systems (currently 30 to 50 percent underfunded per Auditor General reports), and self-government recognition through binding modern-treaty frameworks.

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• Languages & Bilingualism

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supported Bill C-13 (Official Languages Act reform, S.C. 2023, c. 15) adding French-language-of-work rights in federally regulated workplaces and updating the Official Languages Act framework, calls for increased federal funding for the Court Challenges Program supporting minority-official-language-rights litigation, full implementation of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 followed by the 2023-2028 plan worth $4.1 billion, federal funding parity for francophone-minority-community service-delivery, and full Quebec administrative autonomy on French-language matters in Quebec while maintaining federal responsibility for English-minority and Indigenous-language preservation.

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• Mental Health

  The federal NDP calls for making mental-health services covered under the Canada Health Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-6) so that psychological counselling and therapy receive the same universal coverage as physical-health services (currently mental-health falls under provincial extended-benefits programs with major coverage gaps). Supports the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline (launched November 30, 2023 nationally, fully funded by the federal government), expanded First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum funding, and a federal Mental Health Transfer at $5 billion over five years separately from the Canada Health Transfer.

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• National Security

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh supports the Hogue Commission's January 2025 final report on foreign interference and the Bill C-70 (Countering Foreign Interference Act, S.C. 2024, c. 16) implementation of the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act. Calls for increased NSIRA (National Security and Intelligence Review Agency) budgetary capacity for oversight of CSIS, CSE, and RCMP national-security operations. Opposes meeting the NATO two-percent-of-GDP defence-spending target if it requires cutting social spending. Pushed for the public inquiry into foreign interference rather than the closed-doors NSICOP (National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians) initially proposed.

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• Northern & Arctic Sovereignty

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh calls for Indigenous-led Arctic conservation, expansion of the Nunavut Inuit Wildlife Secretariat funding, transition of Northern communities from diesel-generation to renewable energy (currently 28 isolated Northern communities rely on diesel per Natural Resources Canada), legislated end to long-term boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves with binding federal timeline (the Trudeau government missed its 2021 commitment, 28 advisories remained active January 2025), federal funding floor for Nunavut housing (Nunavut faces a 6,000-unit core-housing-need gap per Statistics Canada), and stronger Canadian Coast Guard Arctic presence including the John G. Diefenbaker icebreaker delivery.

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• Public Transit & Infrastructure

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh secured the permanent Canada Public Transit Fund commitment ($3 billion per year starting in 2026-2027 under the 2024 federal budget) as a deliverable of the now-collapsed Supply and Confidence Agreement. Supports free transit for low-income riders under federal-provincial cost-sharing, restoration of intercity bus service (Greyhound's 2018 western withdrawal left many small-and-medium communities without intercity coach service), and federal funding for the Quebec-Windsor HFR/HSR rail corridor. Opposes the Canadian National Railway's 2024 Mountain Subdivision sale to private interests.

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• Tax & Fiscal Policy

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh calls for a wealth tax of 1 percent on net assets over $10 million (lower threshold than Green Party proposal of $20 million; PBO 2021 analysis of a 1 percent wealth tax estimated approximately $5 billion annual revenue), a corporate-profit tax of 15 percent on corporate profits over $500 million (an increase from the federal corporate-tax rate of 15 percent applying to all corporations), a windfall-profit tax on oil and gas, grocers, and banks reporting over $1 billion in profit, closure of the section 110 stock-option deduction loophole, and a financial-transactions tax (Tobin tax) on stock and derivative trades.

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• Veterans & Military Families

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh calls for major reform of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) disability-claim processing (the Auditor General's 2022 Report 2 found 47-week average vs the 16-week statutory target), restoration of the office of the Veterans Affairs Ombudsman to pre-2014 capacity, federal funding parity for VAC mental-health services with Department of National Defence Operational Stress Injury services, expanded Veterans Independence Program for aging-at-home benefits, and faster mental-health-service waitlists at federal OSI clinics. Supports the Royal Canadian Legion's advocacy for federal recognition of military-family caregiving as compensable service.

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• Workers' Rights & Labour

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh secured Bill C-58 (Anti-Scab Bill, S.C. 2024, c. 12, royal assent June 20, 2024) banning replacement workers in federally regulated industries as a key deliverable of the Liberal-NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement, helped pass the Sustainable Jobs Act (Bill C-50, S.C. 2024, c. 19), supported the 26-week EI sickness extension (Bill C-31), calls for sectoral bargaining (collective agreements covering all workers in a sector), federal regulation classifying gig-economy workers (ride-share, food-delivery, package-courier) as employees rather than independent contractors, and full union-card-check certification framework restoration under the Canada Labour Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. L-2).

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• Youth & Future Generations

  The federal NDP under Jagmeet Singh centres housing affordability as the youth-political issue, calling for $10-billion National Housing Accelerator expansion targeting youth-priced rental, federal student-loan debt cancellation up to $20,000 per borrower, expanded EI to cover young workers in unconventional employment (the gig economy), lowering the federal voting age to 16 (NDP-supported Bills C-227 of 44-1 and C-210 of 45-1), expanded Canadian Dental Care Plan coverage to youth aged 18 to 29 beyond the current 18-and-under threshold, and a federal Climate Anxiety Mental Health Strategy as part of the proposed Mental Health Transfer.

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