New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks with reporters before Question Period in Ottawa on Nov. 6.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The NDP would remove the GST on all “essentials” if it forms the government after the next election, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Thursday.
The announcement comes as the cost of living has played a central role in multiple provincial elections this fall, and was a key factor in the U.S. presidential race that concluded last week with a Donald Trump victory.
“When you buy groceries there’s not GST applied to that, so that happens right at the till. So we want to expand that to acknowledge that Canadians are going through a tough time, and our daily essentials should not be where government is nickel-and-diming people,” Singh said at an address to the Canadian Club in Toronto.
For the NDP, essentials include pre-made meals and foods at grocery stores, clothing for children under 15 years old, diapers, home heating, and cellphone and internet bills.
A senior NDP official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the proposal says the party estimates this would save the average household about $500 annually.
The policy would cost the federal government about $5 billion in lost tax revenue, according to the official, which the party says it would recover through a proposed “excess profit tax.”
The NDP previously tried to have the GST permanently removed from home heating with a motion before the House of Commons last November. That motion was defeated with only the NDP and Green Party voting in favour.
Some provinces like Ontario already exempt certain items like children’s clothes and some prepared grocery items from the provincial share of the HST or provincial sales tax.
These exemptions are not universal, though. Saskatchewan added sales tax to prepared grocery meals and children’s clothing as part of its 2017 budget.
During the 2021 election, the NDP campaigned on a promise to increase the corporate tax rate back to the 2010 level of 18 per cent, up from the current rate of 15 per cent.
Singh didn’t indicate if that remains his policy now, but during a fireside chat with a Canadian Club representative at the end of his speech, Singh said he wants to lower taxes for small and medium-sized businesses to help them grow.
For much of the current minority parliament, the NDP has supported the Liberals through a supply-and-confidence agreement. Under that deal, the Liberals agreed to work on NDP priorities like dental care and pharmacare programs in exchange for support on confidence votes.
Singh pulled out of the agreement at the start of September, and the date of the next election is now largely within the NDP’s control.
The Conservatives have tried to bring down the minority government twice since that partnership fell apart with unsuccessful non-confidence motions that both the NDP and the Bloc Québécois voted against.
The Bloc, however, is now looking to defeat the government after the Liberals failed to meet a Bloc deadline to adopt policies to increase old age security payments for some seniors and safeguarding supply management from future trade talks.
It is likely the Conservatives, Bloc and NDP would all need to vote in favour of a non-confidence motion in order to topple the government.
The next election must happen by Oct. 20, 2025, but it could take place sooner if the Liberals lose the support of the House of Commons.