NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh made a stop at Dalhousie University to speak to students Monday about the province-wide housing crisis.
Singh told reporters he heard a lot of tough stories from students about their experiences with finding an affordable place to live.
“A lot of worry, a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety,” said Singh.
“That’s something that students shouldn’t have to be faced with. There’s already enough anxiety worried about courses and exams to have to out on finding a home on top of that.”
According to Dalhousie graduate students who met with the NDP leader, it was a successful discussion.
“He was very invested in listening to our lived experiences with our misadventures in housing provincially,” said Fallen Matthews, the president of the Dalhousie Association of Graduate Students.
Singh is calling for more homes to be built through a cost-share initiative with the provinces and territories — one that would turn existing empty office spaces into affordable housing.
“We are proposing to make that happen, (a) federal partnership where the federal government proposes or offers one third of the funding, the province does one third, and the institution does one third — to build student housing specifically designed for students,” he said.
He added that international students aren’t to blame for the housing crisis, and that they should be able to find affordable housing just as easily as Canadian students.
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