On Monday, April 28, 2025, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced he would step down as party leader after failing to win his riding of Burnaby Central.

Here is a transcript of his full speech at the NDP election night headquarters, located at the Metrotown Hilton in Burnaby, B.C.

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Thank you. That was very nice, very sweet of you. Thank you so much. Gotta keep it together here, folks. Thank you very much. The love is amazing. I appreciate y’all. Thank you to Suzanne, she’s been with us for the beginning. Thank you. Thank you.

And all of you in this room, you guys poured your heart into this. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done. You’re amazing. Love you all.

And I know, I know in election night parties across the country where people are gathered, I want to thank them all for all their hard work. They’re amazing, the people gathered together across the country.

I want to take a moment to congratulate Prime Minister Carney on his victory. He has an important job to do, to represent all Canadians and to protect our country and its sovereignty from the threats of Donald Trump.

Tonight and every night, all of us here, we’re on Team Canada. We want Canada to thrive, and we’re going to continue to fight for Canada.

I want to congratulate all the other leaders on a hard fought campaign. It’s been the honour of my life to represent the people of Burnaby Central. Tonight, they chose — thank you. Tonight, they chose a new member of Parliament, and I wish them well as they continue to work hard for this community.

Obviously, I know this night is a disappointing night for New Democrats. We had really good candidates that lost tonight.

I know how hard you worked. I spent time with you, you’re amazing. I’m so sorry you’re not to be able to represent your communities. I know you’re going to continue to fight for them. I know on how many doors you knocked, how many family dinners you missed, how many nights your kids went to bed without you there to tuck them in. I know it was a tough sacrifice.

I just want to thank — and can we get a round of appause for every single candidate? Thank all those incredible candidates and their incredible teams because no candidate can do this without a team: the volunteers, the staff, you know. Thank you to all those candidates and their incredible staffs. One more time, one more time.

You know, choosing to commit your life to politics obviously comes with some sacrifice, but we choose this life because of the chance to change the country we love for the better. We may lose sometimes, and those losses hurt. You know, it’s tough, but we are only defeated if we stop fighting. We’re only defeated when we believe those that tell us that we can never dream of a better Canada, a fairer Canada, a more compassionate Canada.

I have met New Democrats from coast to coast to coast, who will never back down, even when they’re told that there’s no room for them at the table. We make room for everyone because we believe that there is enough wealth in Canada for all of us to live the life that we deserve.

I gotta avoid making eye contact with certain people, because it’s gonna get too emotional up here. I just made the mistake of doing that so I’m gonna look away now. You know who you are. Don’t look at me again.

Almost eight years ago, I was elected the leader of this incredible party, this incredible movement. I worked really hard to be worthy of this trust, to live up to the legacy of our movement.

Tonight, I’ve informed the party leaders that I’ll be stepping down as party leader as soon as an interim leader can be appointed.

Now, I could not have done this incredible job without — give me a second to break down — I couldn’t have done it without the incredible support of my wife. She’s been my rock, she’s been my foundation. For the past couple years, I’ve been regretting that I didn’t thank her on the night of the last election so this is my opportunity to make up for it. She has literally been my rock. I couldn’t have done this without her.

She has made so many sacrifices. She convinces me that she’s enjoyed them all but she’s amazing. I’m just so, so thankful. Thanks for being on this journey. I’m gonna give you a hug.

I might break down at this part because talking about my daughters reminds me of the future. That’s what we’re fighting for. Because I get emotional any time I talk about my kids. I’m very sappy when it comes to my daughters, so I still I get a little emotional.

I’ve also been supported by my family, and I got to thank my parents, who are here today. They’re amazing. Love you both. My brother, I wouldn’t have been on this journey without my brother so big shout out to my brother.

And honestly, this may sound funny, but my in-laws. I literally couldn’t have done this without my in-laws. They’re amazing. Where are my in laws? There’re somewhere here. Wherever they are, they’re here. I wanted to, like, look at them and point at them two. Oh, they’re there. Yeah, I couldn’t have done it without them, literally. If you’re a parent, you know how important your parents are and your in-laws too. It turns out so huge. Thank you. They’ve supported us, they kept me grounded, given us great advice. I just am so thankful. That’s my family. You can’t do this work without great people, and you can’t do this without a great family supporting you. So thank you, my family.

I’m spilling my water and everything, getting a little bit — trying to be graceful here, folks.

I also want to thank my NDP caucus. This is a team that, together, brought historic change for people. We brought real change to lives of Canadians. I know that people are concretely better off because of our work over the last eight years, and no election result will ever diminish that. So thank you.

I’m so thankful to them all. We did some incredible work together. Seriously, every one of you, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I might break down this part too, forgive me. I can only do this, and we can only do this work because of a great staff, and y’all just poured your heart into me, into the work that we did.

Good thing this is water here. This water is very strategically placed for me. So it’s very, it’s very, very lucky — I might need a couple more glasses. So just — if anyone can help me out on that, that’d be great.

Y’all brought your talent, your heart, to the fight. Every day, we treat each other with respect and dignity and kindness. I love you.

All right, we’re almost there.

Folks, a couple other things I really want to get off my chest here. One other thing is — nothing’s too spicy, it’s just good stuff — I often speak about something my mom taught me is this sick teaching of Chardi Kala , and this is something fundamental to who I am … and it’s something that captures a big part of who I am.

It’s the idea that in the fight for justice, in the fight for fairness, in the fight that we fight, we want to have optimism in the face of struggle. We want to have a defiant optimism. It’s like this eternal resilience, and this is a spirit that I carry tonight.

Obviously, I’m disappointed that we could not win more seats, but I’m not disappointed in our movement. I’m hopeful for our party. I know that we will always choose hope over fear and optimism over despair and unity over hate.

New Democrats literally built this country. We’ve built the best of Canada, and we aren’t going anywhere.

Thank you so much. Love you all, appreciate you all so much. Thank you. You’re amazing. Love you all, every one of you are amazing. Thank you, thank you.