2017 leadership election After Tom Mulcair lost a
leadership review vote at the 2016 federal NDP convention, Singh was considered a potential leadership candidate, winning the support of 11 per cent of NDP members in a
Mainstreet Research poll conducted in April 2016 and was statistically tied for second place. Singh was also considered a leading candidate to replace Horwath as the
Ontario NDP leader if she lost the
42nd Ontario general election. He announced his intention to run for the leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada at a campaign launch on May 15, 2017, in
Brampton. In August, Singh created controversy when he claimed that his candidacy had led to 47,000 sign-ups for the party. Several rival campaigns, most notably that of
Charlie Angus, accused Singh of inflating party membership sign-ups. A poll by Mainstreet Research was released in September, showing Singh overtaking Charlie Angus to lead the race for the first time with 27.3 per cent of the vote. Several days before the leadership vote, a video of Singh confronting a heckler, who accused him of plotting to subject Canada to
sharia law, went viral, leading to Singh getting praise for his handling of the situation and boosting him in the leadership race. The leadership election was held on October 1, 2017, and Singh won on the first ballot with 53.8 per cent of the vote; Angus came second,
Niki Ashton third, and
Guy Caron fourth. Soon afterward, Singh named leadership rival Caron as parliamentary leader of the NDP.
Leading from outside Parliament (2017–2019) convention several weeks after winning the
New Democratic Party leadership electionSingh initially opted to lead the NDP from outside of Parliament. He indicated that he preferred to run in a seat where he feels a "genuine connection" rather than any "safe" seat. Singh had stated that he would most likely run in
Brampton East, which includes the bulk of his old provincial riding, in the
2019 election. Soon after his election as leader, Singh named leadership rival
Guy Caron as parliamentary leader of the NDP. In February 2018, Singh suspended Saskatchewan MP
Erin Weir from the NDP caucus although no direct complaints had been made against him. Singh had 220 emails sent out to women connected with the NDP, as well as appearing on television soliciting complaints against Weir, which ended up receiving 15 complaints of which 11 were dismissed as trivial. Weir was formally expelled from caucus on May 3, 2018, based upon the outcome of the sexual harassment investigation which stated Weir's conduct was described by an investigator as “on the low-end of the scale,” and which would not normally be understood as “sexual harassment.” It was alleged he argued excessively over carbon levies with a staffer of then party leader
Tom Mulcair's during a NDP convention and also he stood too close when speaking to people. In May 2018, a group of 67 former NDP MPs and
MLAs from Saskatchewan sent Singh a letter in support of Weir and calling for his reinstatement as an NDP MP. On September 6, 2018, Singh rejected Weir's request to rejoin the NDP during a meeting in June, despite Weir stating that he had worked with a personal trainer to understand the issues of the complaint. Singh relocated to
Burnaby for the election and won on February 25, 2019, with 38.9 percent of the vote.
2019 federal election in Toronto on October 15, 2019 The NDP entered the campaign for the
2019 federal election with polling that suggested it was at risk of losing
official party status, and even possibly being eclipsed by the
Green Party, having already lost the riding of
Nanaimo—Ladysmith to Green candidate
Paul Manly in a by-election. This followed a by-election loss to the Liberals in Mulcair's vacated seat of
Outremont, with most polls showing the NDP was vulnerable to a wipe out in Quebec. The NDP also saw low fundraising numbers during his tenure. Singh was widely credited to have performed well in the English language debate on October 7, improving the poll numbers for both himself and his party. This followed positive coverage of his campaign, especially with regard to his handling of
racial issues, On October 21, 2019, Singh was re-elected to the Burnaby South riding. The NDP won 24 seats, down from 44 seats at the 2015 election. However, the incumbent Trudeau Liberal government failed to retain its majority, allowing the NDP to share the
balance of power in Parliament. It was the lowest seat count for the NDP since 2004, and the party was passed by the
Bloc Québécois as the third-largest parliamentary party. The NDP lost all but one of its seats in Quebec, where it was suggested that Singh's Sikhism may have been negatively received by voters in the context of the
Quebec ban on religious symbols. During the election a man in Montreal, Quebec, told Singh to cut off his turban to look more Canadian during a campaign stop. Singh replied that Canadians "look like all sorts of people" before walking off.
43rd Canadian Parliament On June 17, 2020, Singh was
removed from the House of Commons for the rest of the day after he called
Bloc Québécois MP
Alain Therrien a "racist" and refused to apologize when Therrien was the sole member to prevent unanimous consent on the second motion concluding
systemic racism and discrimination in the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) prior to the completion of the public inquiry from Singh's first motion.
2021 federal election In August 2021, Singh announced a plan to enforce
mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for employees that work under a
collective bargaining contract. Singh made it a campaign promise that "All collective agreements include a process for progressive discipline − up to and including termination. Discipline should always be a last resort, but may be necessary in rare cases to protect the health and safety of Canadians." On September 5 he returned to the subject in a press conference with the NDP candidate for the riding of
Ottawa-Centre. Here he laid out his promise to "[supply] $1 billion in targeted vaccination programs," as well as to create "a national vaccine passport system", to extend pandemic supports, and to strengthen "laws to protect health care workers and those seeking care from harassment and attacks." He attracted support from other party leaders including
Justin Trudeau and
Erin O'Toole.
44th Canadian Parliament Singh was re-elected with a comfortable majority of slightly more than 4,000 votes to serve in Burnaby-South. The
44th Canadian Parliament made very few changes to its predecessor, and the NDP emerged with its total number of seats almost unchanged at 25. On March 22, 2022, the NDP struck a
confidence-and-supply agreement with the governing
Liberal Party of Canada over certain priorities: the government would “by the end of 2023” implement
pharmacare and a "dental care program for low-income Canadians" would be a government priority to be enacted by 2025. The pact was influenced when the
Freedom Convoy caused Trudeau to invoke and revoke the
Emergencies Act over the vaccine mandate policy then in effect and also by the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Amidst the
Gaza war, Singh called for the end of arm sales to Israel, and called for the recognition of the
State of Palestine. He stated that he considered stepping down as NDP leader in 2023, after he was informed of threats to his life. It was later reported that an agent allegedly connected to the
Indian government had been closely tracking Singh, leading the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to place Singh and his family under police protection in late 2023. During the party's national convention in
Hamilton, Ontario, Singh passed his leadership review with 81% support. The Conservatives accused Singh in
attack ads of keeping the
Trudeau government in power to secure his parliamentary pension, which he qualified for in 2025, shortly before the
federal election. On September 4, 2024, Singh announced that he was ending the 2022 confidence-and-supply agreement, citing discontent with the Liberals' performance on healthcare reforms and affordability measures. Later in the month the NDP faced two competitive
federal by-elections in
Elmwood—Transcona in
Winnipeg and
LaSalle—Émard—Verdun in
Montreal, winning the former and significantly improving their vote share in the latter. Additionally, in May 2025, the
Alberta NDP voted to end automatic joint membership with the federal NDP, giving provincial members the option to opt out of federal membership.
2025 federal election While Singh's NDP stagnated in
most opinion polls following the 2021 federal election, the party experienced a brief jump in support to second place following the collapse of the governing Liberal party, during the
2024–2025 political crisis. However, following Trudeau's resignation in January and
Mark Carney's
election as Liberal leader, the NDP collapsed in most polls, with most of its support going to the Liberals. Despite being criticized for his political decisions, he defended his move to support the Liberal government during the
44th Parliament in an interview with the
Toronto Star, saying that he "could not stomach the idea" of a Conservative government. On election night, having been
defeated in
Burnaby Central and with the NDP losing
official party status, Singh announced that he would step down as party leader once an interim leader was chosen in advance of the
2026 leadership election. == Political positions ==