In the final days of the federal election campaign, the New Democratic Party (NDP) made a significant push to save Jagmeet Singh's seat in Burnaby, British Columbia. This effort came as Singh faced a challenging race, with some insiders deeming it unwinnable. Just days before the April 28 election, at least 20 staff members from the party's Ottawa headquarters boarded Singh's campaign plane to assist with door-knocking efforts in his riding. This followed an earlier deployment of a small team to Burnaby Central earlier in the month.

However, sources within the party expressed frustration over this strategy, suggesting it was a misallocation of resources. They indicated that the party was struggling in other critical races and that focusing on Singh's seat was not the best use of their efforts. Singh ultimately finished a distant third in Burnaby Central, losing to Liberal candidate Wade Chang by over 12,000 votes. Overall, the NDP lost 17 of its 24 seats in the election.

Party insiders noted that there were eight other incumbent ridings where NDP candidates had a better chance of retaining their seats, as they had placed second and garnered a greater vote share than Singh. For instance, in the neighboring New Westminster Burnaby–Maillardville riding, incumbent MP Peter Julian lost by less than 2,000 votes.

Pollster Éric Grenier criticized the NDP's decision-making, stating that the party should have concentrated its efforts on more viable ridings, such as Winnipeg's Elmwood Transcona or Skeena–Bulkley Valley in northern British Columbia. "It is remarkable that the NDP, at the end of the campaign, when things are going as badly as they were, would have poured resources into a riding that should not have been in their top 15 targets in terms of trying to win to get official party status," Grenier said. He emphasized that no amount of ground game could have overcome the significant gap between Singh and Chang.

Jennifer Howard, the NDP's national campaign director, acknowledged that staff were sent to Burnaby Central but defended the resource allocation. She stated that she was "ruthless" in distributing party resources and that Singh's riding did not receive any special treatment. Howard explained that it is common for parties to focus on their leader's riding, especially when they are perceived to be in trouble.

In a meeting at NDP headquarters on April 10, staff were shown a new political video featuring Singh, which marked a shift in the party's messaging from aiming to form a government to simply electing as many NDP members as possible. Despite this pivot, sources reported a heavy concentration of staff in Singh's riding, which surprised many. After several days of canvassing, it became evident that Singh's chances of winning were slim, as many NDP supporters indicated they were switching their votes to the Liberals or Conservatives.

As the election approached, the NDP's campaign headquarters was largely emptied to mobilize voters. However, a significant number of staff, between 20 and 30, were sent to Burnaby in a last-ditch effort to support Singh. One source expressed confusion over the decision, stating, "I found myself confused. It was confusing that we had 24 incumbent seats, but most of us were being sent to Burnaby."

Another source, who worked in a different battleground riding, described the resource allocation as shocking, especially given the needs of other ridings. They remarked on the high costs associated with sending staff to Burnaby for door-knocking and other campaign activities. This trend reflects a leader-centric approach to campaigning, which the NDP had previously warned against in its debrief after the 2021 election.

Avi Lewis, an NDP candidate who also lost his bid for Vancouver Central, cautioned against second-guessing campaign decisions in the final days. However, he criticized the increasing concentration of power within the NDP, a trend he believes began under former leader Jack Layton. Grenier noted that the NDP's strategy to save Singh's seat seemed overly focused on the leader, suggesting that regardless of the outcome, Singh's position as leader was likely in jeopardy.