Singh says that the federal government's moves are not enough
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh has said the ongoing crisis regarding Canada’s high cost of mortgages and interest rates is because of the federal government’s lack of response to the inflationary crisis.
Speaking in Windsor this week, Singh said that government measures had not been enough as the only solution it had so far was to allow the Bank of Canada to increase interest rates.
Last July 12, the Bank of Canada announced that it raised its policy interest rate, a move that consequently increased the cost of borrowing. This was followed by some of Canada’s biggest lenders announcing that they are set to match this increase in alignment with the central bank.
"There are so many families that are wondering how to afford to keep their homes," Singh said. He further noted how some families are complaining about the rise in interest rates as they are occurring sharply and rapidly.
He emphasized that in addition to this mortgage crisis, Canada is also facing a severe housing shortage.
“We also need to build more homes, rapidly. More homes that are affordable to rent or to buy. We need to make massive investments and make those investments as quickly as possible… And we need to make sure we're taking measures to save people money, to put money back in their pockets,” he added.
Singh also urged the federal government to encourage developers to build more homes through providing incentives.
"We also need incentives to build more rental units that are purposely built for rent because there's not very much available in Canada,” he said.
“For some families, you need to start off with rental, save up money before you buy, and there's just no options."
