Ontario deputy NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is set to launch a bid for federal leadership next week, The Canadian Press has learned.
Sources familiar with Singh's plans say he will make the announcement at the Bombay Palace in Brampton, Ont., on Monday night.
They also say his campaign will be led by Michal Hay, executive assistant to Toronto city councillor Michael Layton, the son of late federal NDP leader Jack Layton.
The 38-year-old criminal defence lawyer was named deputy to Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath in spring 2015.
There are four official candidates in the race to replace Tom Mulcair as NDP leader, MPs Charlie Angus, Guy Caron, Niki Ashton and Peter Julian.
The NDP says former veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran and Ibrahim Bruno El-Khoury, the founder of a Montreal consulting firm, are not considered official candidates because they must submit nomination paperwork and a registration fee.