The NDP has released its fully costed platform, which focuses on higher taxes for the wealthiest Canadians, a tax cut for workers, and expanded programming.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh described his platform as “bold” when introducing it in Burnaby, B.C., on April 19, saying it’s focused on helping Canadians.
Here are the five main takeaways from the plan.
Higher Taxes for ‘Ultra-Wealthy’
The NDP has long argued that the wealthiest Canadians benefit from preferential tax treatment and should pay their “fair share” while poorer Canadians struggle to get ahead, and the party’s new platform reflects that belief. An NDP government would bring in $94.5 billion in new revenue by taxing multi-millionaires and the largest corporations.The NDP would create a new tax bracket for the richest Canadians, introducing a graduated tax of 1 percent for household wealth between $10 million and $50 million, 2 percent between $50 million and $100 million, and 3 percent for households with a net worth of more than $100 million.
Corporations earning profits in excess of $500 million would be charged a 2 percent surtax. The NDP would also crack down on corporate tax avoidance through a 15 percent minimum tax on corporate book profits and the ending of tax agreements with known tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.
The NDP’s plan projects that its new tax bracket for wealthy Canadians would bring in $94 billion in revenue over four years, while its 2 percent surtax on corporations would bring in $6.6 billion. Closing tax loopholes and taxing book profits would net $41 billion.
Meanwhile, the NDP’s plan would lower taxes for Canadians by raising the basic personal amount—the threshold under which Canadians do not pay tax—from $9,500 to $19,500. This measure would cost approximately $48.2 billion over five years.
Rent Controls and Grocery Caps
Singh has put the blame on corporate landlords and food corporations like Loblaws and Walmart for the rising rental and food costs Canada has experienced.The NDP plan includes emergency price caps on basic food items like pasta, frozen vegetables, and infant formula, which have seen steep price increases since 2020. The New Democrats would also strengthen the Competition Bureau’s ability to impose penalties on companies that don’t comply with the new measures, as well as work to boost competition in the grocery sector by helping small and medium-sized grocery stores.
The NDP says it would remove the GST from all essential goods like grocery store meals and baby items as well as cellphone, internet, and home heating bills, saving a family of four $448 per year. This measure would cost $18 billion over four years.
To increase housing affordability, the NDP would require strong tenant protection measures from provincial and municipal governments as a condition for accessing housing funding. This would include rent controls and prohibitions on “renovictions” and “demovictions.” It would also ban financial landlords, such as hedge funds and equity funds, from buying purpose-built rental apartments and social housing units.
The NDP’s housing plan would also involve setting aside 100 percent of suitable federal land to build more than 100,000 rent-controlled homes by 2035, and publicly financing new constructions with a Community Housing Bank to partner with non-profit developers and indigenous communities. It is projected to cost approximately $28 billion over four years.
New Spending for Health Care
Improving Canada’s health-care system is a major priority of the NDP, and the party would be prepared to spend $46.2 billion over two years on the endeavour. The party would train more doctors from underserved and rural areas and streamline support for U.S. doctors looking to practice in Canada. The party has also guaranteed that every Canadian will be able to access primary care and a family doctor by 2030 at a cost of $10 billion over four years.The NDP would increase Canada Health Transfers to the provinces and territories by an additional 1 percent, but did not say how much that would cost.
The NDP would also put in place a universal pharmacare program within four years, which is expected to increase in cost over time, tallying at $29 billion over four years. Expanding mental health-care coverage to help Canadians more easily access psychotherapy and counselling would cost a total of $7 billion over four years.
The NDP said it would also protect Canada from “U.S.-style privatization” by blocking any trade deals from putting Canada’s health care on the table, banning American corporations from buying Canadian health facilities, and strengthening the Canada Health Act to stop cash-for-care clinics from charging Canadians for basic care.
‘Contingency Fund’ and Response to Trade War
The NDP’s platform contains several measures in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canada and his threats toward the country’s sovereignty.The party described Canada’s economic future as “uncertain and facing unprecedented volatility.” To address that, it would set aside money each year to create a contingency fund to prepare for events that could reduce government revenue, earmarking $4.2 billion over four years for the initiative.
The NDP would put together a “Build Canada Plan” to invest in housing, clean infrastructure, and Arctic infrastructure that would reduce the country’s reliance on the United States. The federal government’s capital investment budget, which puts funds into assets like ports, rails, and highways, would also be increased by $10 billion per year.
The NDP would also make improvements to Employment Insurance by extending benefit duration to 50 weeks and increasing the benefit level and insurable earnings cap to two-thirds of insurable earnings, for a minimum weekly benefit of $450. That is expected to cost $41 billion over four years, but $26 billion of tariff revenue would go toward that program.
In response to Trump’s tariffs, the NDP would also remove the GST from Canadian-made vehicles, which would cost $4 billion over four years. It would also create a $6 billion Northern Infrastructure Fund and increase international aid to $2.4 billion over four years.
Higher Deficit
The NDP projects its plan would add $48 billion to Canada’s federal deficit over the next four years, on top of the $61.9 billion deficit recorded in 2023–2024.When asked about this projected deficit on April 19, Singh said governments can’t “cut their way out” of crises like recessions or trade wars “when people are already vulnerable.” He also criticized the Liberal Party, alleging it would cut health care and services.
The Liberal Party’s platform, released on the same day as the NDP’s plan, would involve $130 billion in new spending on items like defence, housing, and tax cuts over the next four years. The costed platform predicts a deficit of $62.3 billion this year, $60 billion in 2026, $55 billion in 2027, and $48 billion in 2028, which would add a total of $225 billion to the federal debt.
The Conservatives’ plan would add $31 billion to Canada’s deficit in both 2025 and 2026, $23 billion to it in 2027, and $14 billion in 2028.
