Pierre Poilievre talks housing, carbon tax and international students at ‘Canada First’ rally in Breslau, Ont.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s Canada First rally made a stop in Waterloo Region Thursday evening. CTV's Heather Senoran reports.

The Conservative Party leader was in the Region of Waterloo on Thursday for his first campaign stop since the federal election was called.

A huge crowd of supporters turned out in Breslau for Pierre Poilievre’s “Canada First” rally where he drove home his pitch for change on Parliament Hill.

Vehicles lined the street for two kilometres, all the way to Fountain Street, and there were long lineups outside the building near the Region of Waterloo International Airport.

“I’m here for my children and we need Pierre,” said Nikki Sweeney, who came from Guelph to attend the event. “We need to move forward. My kids need Conservatives.”

Housing plans

Prior to visiting Waterloo Region, Poilievre visited a building site in Milton, where he expanded on his party’s plan for housing. He made a similar pitch to voters in Breslau.

The Conservative leader said he wanted municipalities to cut development charges to make housing more affordable and easier to build. As part this proposal, he promised to reimburse cities for half of every dollar they cut in development charges.

Poilievre also said the development costs paid by builders ahead of construction projects adds to rising price of housing.

“More money from a new home today, built in Canada, goes to bureaucrats in office buildings than goes to the carpenters, electricians and plumbers that actually build the homes,” he stated.

More campaign promises

Poilievre also spoke to the crowd about his plan to get rid of the carbon tax.

“I want to axe the tax for everyone, for everything, for good, for real, for a change,” he said.

Poilievre also addressed the international student boom. He said that, despite the work ethic shown by those coming into the country, the nation is not set up to house them.

“Most of them are hardworking, decent people, but you can’t add people four times faster than you add homes,” Poilievre told the crowd. “Pretty quick you’re going to run out of places for people to live.”

Support for Prime Ministers Path

The Conservative leader also addressed the Prime Ministers Path, a controversial project that was been put on hold in the nearby community of Baden. Statues of Canada’s past leaders were removed following repeated vandalism and protests about over the legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald and the part he played in the country’s residential school system.

“We have an imperfect past, but we don’t fix that by tearing it all down,” he said. “We should add new statues.”

That elicited cheers from the crowd.

More from the rally

As Poilievre wrapped up the rally, he praised Waterloo Region’s tech sector, calling it a great global entrepreneurial and technological center. His comment appeared to resonate with the audience.

“I thought it was great,” said Jacob Bradshaw, a Conservative Party volunteer. “So much energy. I think we’re going to bring it home.”

On the campaign trail

Thursday was also busy for the other candidates.

Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney made his first stop in Brampton, where he spoke about cracking down on crime to create safer communities. He later addressed U.S. tariffs in Hamilton.

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh, meanwhile, was in Saskatoon where he spoke out against Carney’s plan to balance the operating budget. Singh said the plan would result in nearly $43 billion in spending cuts within a three-year period. He later attended a private meeting with Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations leadership.