The Missing Middle Podcast
Welcome to the Missing Middle, a podcast about why the middle class in Canada is disappearing. We hope to help you understand why life is becoming unaffordable for so many in this country, and what can be done to reverse course.
Episodes
150 episodes
AI is Killing Entry-Level Jobs: The 13% Drop Nobody is Talking About
Yesterday, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Mackem warned that early evidence shows AI is reducing the number of entry-level jobs available. Are we heading toward a future of mass unemployment, or is AI just the latest "calculator" to c...
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Season 1
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Episode 149
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19:48
Canada’s Starter Home Is Dead
Canada’s housing ladder is broken. In this episode of Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt explain why the starter home no longer works and how an entire generation has been locked out of moving up.They compare buying a deta...
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Season 1
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Episode 148
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25:11
Canada’s Demographic Time Bomb: What Boom, Bust & Echo Got Right
Canada’s housing crisis. Youth unemployment. Immigration debates. A broken healthcare system.What if we told you a book published in 1996 predicted almost all of it?In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern and Mike Moffat...
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Season 1
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Episode 147
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26:01
These Changes Can Help Make Homes Affordable for Young People
In this episode of The Missing Middle, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux dig into why homeownership for Canadians under 40 has fallen off a cliff. Spoiler: it’s not just zoning, NIMBYs, or avocado toast. The federal government plays a much bigg...
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Season 1
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Episode 146
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24:41
You’ll Own Nothing and Be Happy: Is That Our Future?
Do you actually own the things you pay for anymore?In this episode of the Missing Middle Podcast, economist Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern explore how ownership is quietly disappearing from everyday life—and what that means for con...
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Season 1
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Episode 145
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23:16
The Hidden Tax on City Living: How Crime and Disorder Undermine Density
From breath mints and car break-ins to bouncers at the Rogers store, urban life is starting to feel a lot more “on alert.” In this episode of The Missing Middle, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux examine the rise of crime and disorder in our ci...
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Season 1
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Episode 144
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22:38
How Birth Year Shapes Your Economic Future
From avocado toast jokes to accusations of entitlement, every generation seems to get its turn in the stereotype spotlight. In this episode of The Missing Middle, economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern dig into where these labels come...
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Season 1
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Episode 143
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24:06
Did the Greenbelt Break Ontario’s Housing System?
Ontario’s Greenbelt is often treated as untouchable — but is it actually making the housing crisis worse?In this episode of The Missing Middle, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux tackle the question viewers keep asking: can Ontario buil...
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Season 1
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Episode 142
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33:18
Ask Me Anything: Housing, Transit, and Our Podcast’s Future
In this special Ask Me Anything episode of The Missing Middle, the full team answers your biggest viewer questions on housing, transit, immigration, and affordability — and we share a major announcement about the future of the podcast. We also ...
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Season 1
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Episode 141
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31:20
Fixing Canada’s Health Data Rules Without Killing Innovation
Is Canada’s life sciences and health tech sector heading toward a code red? In this episode, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt unpack how outdated and fragmented privacy laws are slowing innovation, and why aligning too closely with European re...
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Season 1
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Episode 140
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11:39
Grading Provinces on Housing: Who Earned an A and Who Deserves Detention?
In this episode of the Missing Middle, hosts Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt break down his latest “home score” report, grading every Canadian province on housing. Atlantic provinces like New Brunswick and P.E.I. lead the way, while Ontario struggl...
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Season 1
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Episode 139
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23:23
Are We Ignoring a Generation of Struggling Young Men?
In this episode of the Missing Middle Podcast, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down a major shift in Canada’s income trends: men over retirement age are now earning more than men aged 25–34. They explain how seniors’ incomes have increa...
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Season 1
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Episode 138
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18:21
How Housing Prices Shape Families
This episode of the Missing Middle podcast explores a new University of Toronto study that highlights housing affordability as a key factor in declining fertil...
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Season 1
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Episode 137
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25:34
Are Boomers Bankrupting the Future?
The conversation highlights the pressing issue of intergenerational tensions in Canada, particularly focusing on the financial burdens faced by younger Canadians. Sabrina discusses the potential consequences of failing to address these issues, ...
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Season 1
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Episode 136
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15:36
Canada Is Finally Regulating Stablecoins – Here’s Why It Matters
Canada is moving toward regulating dollar-backed stablecoins, and in this episode, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down what that means. They explain how stablecoins work, why Canada has been behind other G7 countries, and the potential...
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Season 1
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Episode 135
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14:05
Why Rent Control Might Be Hurting the People It’s Meant to Help
Host Cara Stern is back from parental leave, and she and Mike are jumping right into one of the most debated topics in housing policy — rent control. Inspired by Zohran Mamdani's campaign rent freeze proposal, they dig into how these rules shap...
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Season 1
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Episode 134
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19:29
How Canada Fell Behind the World on Housing Affordability
This week on The Missing Middle Podcast, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux bust some myths and take a hard look at Canada’s place in the global housing landscape. Drawing on new OECD data, they reveal why Canada’s housing affordability...
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Season 1
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Episode 133
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19:44
Do You Have a CRA Horror Story?
The Canada Revenue Agency is facing a public crisis: long delays, wrong assessments, and frustrated taxpayers. Hosts Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt unpack the CRA’s 100-day “fix,” why it’s only a Band-Aid solution, and the deeper structural ...
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Season 1
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Episode 132
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15:47
The Rental Paradox: Why Lower Prices Aren't Enough
Rents are finally dropping in many Canadian cities, yet finding an affordable, decent apartment still feels impossible. What’s going on with the rental market?In this episode, Sabrina Maddeaux sits down with Max Steinman, CEO of RentSync...
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Season 1
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Episode 131
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23:47
Nightmare on Craven Road: When Local Politics Derail Citywide Housing Goals
What happens when one city councillor gets Toronto council to vote in favour of “studying” garden suites on a single block, potentially undoing years of zoning reform? In this episode of The Missing Middle, Mike Moffatt and Meredith Martin dig ...
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Season 1
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Episode 130
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15:41
Eastbound and Outpriced: The Great GTA Family Migration
Ontario’s family housing crisis is spreading fast, and it’s not just a GTA problem anymore. In this episode of The Missing Middle podcast, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt delve into a new report that reveals how the shortage of famil...
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Season 1
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Episode 129
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21:39
From Kraft Dinner to Condos: The Great Shrinkage
In this episode of The Missing Middle, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux dig into the rise of shrinkflation, from grocery store products like cereal and Kraft Dinner to Canada’s shrinking condos, and reveal how companies, developers, a...
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Season 1
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Episode 129
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26:23
Ontario’s Housing Sales Collapse: It’s Not Just Toronto Condos
Ontario’s housing market is in crisis, and it’s not just condos in downtown Toronto. In this episode of The Missing Middle Podcast, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux break down a bleak new report on housing starts and sales across 34 m...
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Season 1
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Episode 128
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13:13
Who Really Wins with Return-to-Office Mandates?
In this episode of The Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down Ontario’s new return-to-office mandate and the big banks’ similar policies, asking what they really mean for younger workers and families already facing high ho...
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Season 1
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Episode 127
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17:28
Condo Crashes, Shrinkflation, & The Death of Homeownership?
In this episode of The Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt dig into Canada’s condo market crash, the rise of “housing shrinkflation,” and what it all means for young Canadians chasing the dream of homeownership. They unpa...
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Season 1
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Episode 126
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16:33