The Missing Middle Podcast

Why is it getting so hard to afford a night out? From $200 dinners and sky-high concert tickets to the disappearance of cheap bowling alleys and dinner parties, having fun is becoming a luxury. In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down how soaring housing costs, stagnant wage growth and rising entertainment prices are changing the way we socialize. As affordable third spaces disappear and young Canadians spend more time alone, are we facing a loneliness crisis fuelled by the cost of living? And what happens when we can no longer afford the everyday experiences that bring us together?

Chapters:

00:00 - Why Having Fun Got So Expensive
00:49 - The Data Behind the Loneliness Epidemic
03:10 - Rent, Wages & Skyrocketing Ticket Prices
07:16 - Splurge Culture: Concerts vs. Real Life
10:34 - What Happened to Cheap Hangout Spots?
13:55 - How the Housing Crisis Killed Dinner Parties
22:15 - The Rise of the "Alone Economy"
25:17 - The Hidden Cost of Living Alone

Research:

NetNewsLedger - Funflation is raising concert, sports and streaming costs for Canadians:
https://www.netnewsledger.com/2026/07/16/funflation-is-raising-concert-sports-and-streaming-costs-for-canadians/

Bloomberg Opinion (Allison Schrager) - Why Bowl Together When You Can Scroll Alone? (Lucky Strike, league decline, third places):
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-10-04/why-bowl-together-when-you-can-scroll-alone

The Atlantic (Derek Thompson) - Why Americans Stopped Throwing Dinner Parties (42% to 12% hosting monthly):
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/10/americans-socialization-dinner-decline-hosting/688846/

Pollstar - 2025 Year-End Business Analysis (average ticket $96.17 in 2019, $132.62 in 2025; stadium average $216.13, up 18.3%):
https://news.pollstar.com/?p=1214179

City of Toronto staff report (July 2026) - grassroots music venues: ~5% own their buildings, ~30 lost 2014 to pandemic, 50% property tax cut:
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/ec/bgrd/backgroundfile-289602.pdf

Statistics Canada - Survey of Household Spending, 2023 (recreation $5,231; one-person households and shelter share):
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250521/dq250521a-eng.htm

Statistics Canada - Time pressure and time spent with friends over the last 30 years:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250617/dq250617d-eng.htm

Canadian Press - Canadians spending less time with friends:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/article/canadians-spending-less-time-with-friends-especially-those-of-working-age-statcan/

Statistics Canada - Canadian Social Survey: Loneliness in Canada (2021):
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/211124/dq211124e-eng.htm
https://asiatimes.com/2026/09/asias-lonely-economy-of-one/

Statistics Canada - Loneliness as a Quality of Life Framework indicator:
https://www160.statcan.gc.ca/society-societe/loneliness-solitude-eng.htm

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

With election day approaching across Ontario, are mayoral candidates offering real solutions to the housing crisis, or just slogans?

Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt examine housing platforms from candidates in nine Ontario cities to see which proposals could actually make homes more affordable for middle-class families, renters, and first-time homebuyers.

They break down the policies that could make a difference, the promises that need more scrutiny, and the municipal decisions that are shaping the future of housing in Ontario.

In this episode:

• What's missing from candidates' housing plans? Why concrete targets, timelines, and realistic funding matter.
• Mississauga's property tax proposal: Would allowing seniors to defer property taxes help homeowners, or create new costs for taxpayers?
• Toronto's land transfer tax: Could cutting the tax help families move into homes that better suit their needs, and how would the city replace the lost revenue?
• Windsor's fourplex debate: What happens when municipal leaders oppose policies that could allow more homes to be built?
• Oshawa and Guelph's housing plans: Can faster approvals, lower development charges, and more flexible zoning improve affordability?
• The case for family-sized homes: Why building more housing means more than hitting unit targets, and why young families need more options.
• What good housing policy looks like: Mike shares the municipal reforms he would prioritize, from streamlining approvals to making starter homes cheaper to build.

The big question: Can good housing policy win elections, and are municipal politicians willing to make the changes needed to help the next generation afford a home?

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction: Analyzing Ontario’s Municipal Housing Platforms

00:50 - What to Look For in a Middle-Class Housing Plan

02:23 - Initial Reactions & "Where’s the Beef?"

03:04 - Property Tax Deferrals for Seniors: Good or Bad Policy?

06:30 - Land Transfer Taxes: Removing Barriers to Moving

08:46 - Strong Mayor Powers & The Fourplex Veto Debate

10:34 - Development Charges & Streamlining Approvals in Oshawa

12:31 - Density on Arterials vs. Neighbourhood Infill

14:59 - The Student Housing Crisis in Southwestern Ontario

16:35 - Core Principles for a Real Municipal Housing Vision

18:50 - Key Policies: Form-Based Zoning, AI Approvals, & Tax Reform

21:37 - Does Good Housing Policy Actually Win Elections?

Research/links:

https://www.thestar.com/real-estate/why-toronto-s-next-council-could-be-decided-by-renters/article_24997d4c-28a5-4250-ab38-e5c7203c8252.html

https://www.alvintedjo.ca/affordability

https://chewforguelph.ca/priorities/

https://bradford26.ca/news/brad-bradford-toronto-mayor-will-eliminate-torontos-land-transfer-tax-for-the-average-homebuyer

https://www.ctvnews.ca/windsor/article/dilkens-vows-to-use-strong-mayor-powers-to-block-fourplex-changes-if-re-elected-francis-calls-it-fear-mongering/#:~:text=Dilkens%20vows%20to%20use%20strong%20mayor%20powers,Dilkens%20(right).%20(%20Sanjay%20Maru%2FCTV%20News%20Windsor)

Credits:

Mike Moffatt 

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt

https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Cara Stern 

https://x.com/carastern

https://bsky.app/profile/carastern.bsky.social

Meredith Martin 

https://twitter.com/meredithmartin

https://bsky.app/profile/meredithmartin.bsky.social

Sean Foreman

@seanegertonforeman

https://bsky.app/profile/seanforeman.bsky.social

Canadian Civil

youtube.com/CanadianCivil

Co-op Student

Francis Gabriel Carmona

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down why political promises to give "more money to seniors" actually enrich Canada's wealthiest demographic, the myth that retirees "paid into" Old Age Security, how brutal child benefit clawbacks contrast with generous senior write-offs, and how taking money from young workers is quietly hurting the economy. 

Chapters:

00:00:00 The Problem with “More Money for Seniors”

00:02:53 How OAS Works & Why Income Thresholds Matter 

00:04:36 The Conservative Payout Plan

00:05:41 Seniors vs. Struggling Young Families

00:08:32 Generational Theft & Economic Drag

00:10:03 Why Politicians Pandering to Boomers Always Win

00:13:23 We’ll Be $3 Trillion in Debt and Still Giving Discretionary Handouts

00:14:37 Stop Giving Wealthy Retirees Welfare

RESEARCH LINKS:

Sabrina Maddeaux column (National Post) — https://nationalpost.com/opinion/sabrina-maddeaux-conservatives-lose-the-plot-with-pitch-for-higher-old-age-security

Old Age Security — overview, amounts, and clawback thresholds (Government of Canada):

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/old-age-security.html

Canada Child Benefit — income thresholds and calculation:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit-overview.html

Parliamentary Budget Officer — fiscal analysis of seniors benefits and OAS projections:

https://www.pbo-dpb.ca

Generation Squeeze — generational fairness and intergenerational transfers:

https://www.gensqueeze.ca

Net wealth data: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241029/t001a-eng.htm 

Poverty data: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/topics-start/poverty 

Parliamentary Budget Office costing: https://www.pbo-dpb.ca/en/epc-estimates--estimations-cpe/45/EL-45-1031563-P 

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down whether creating brand-new cities can actually solve Canada’s housing affordability crisis, how our metropolitan numbers compare globally, the failed history of planned-city experiments like Ontario's Townsend and Australia's Monarto, and why central planning can't replace the organic economic realities that make cities thrive.

Chapters:

00:00 Why Doesn’t Canada Build New Cities?
01:23 Canada Is Already Creating New Cities
03:10 Why Smaller Canadian Cities Are Growing Faster
04:37 Does Canada Actually Need More Cities?
09:20 Why Canada’s New City Plans Keep Failing
14:20 Can the Free Market Create New Cities?
16:20 Why Moving People Won’t Solve the Housing Crisis

Research:

UK New towns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_towns_in_the_United_Kingdom

Townsend:

https://haldimandpress.com/townsend-the-metropolitan-city-that-never-was/

Monarto:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarto,_South_Australia

Credits:

Mike Moffatt https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt

https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Sabrina Maddeaux https://x.com/SabrinaMaddeaux

Meredith Martin 

https://twitter.com/meredithmartin

https://bsky.app/profile/meredithmartin.bsky.social

Sean Foreman

@seanegertonforeman

https://bsky.app/profile/seanforeman.bsky.social

Cara Stern https://x.com/carastern

https://bsky.app/profile/carastern.bsky.social

University Of Ottawa Co-op Student

Francis Gabriel Carmona

Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/

Brought to you by the Missing Middle Initiative https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

We often talk about how politics caters to seniors at the expense of young people, and that part of the cure is to get more young voices into politics.

But what actually happens when a young outsider puts their name on the ballot for a major party leadership position?

In this episode of Answer Period, former Ontario Liberal leadership candidate Eric Lombardi joins us for a candid conversation about his outsider campaign, navigating the tension between sound-bite politics and deep policy, and the double-edged sword of social media in modern campaigns. We'll dive into the harsh realities facing young political outsiders, what it truly takes to challenge the establishment, and key takeaways for the next generation of leaders looking to make a real impact.

Credits:
Mike Moffatt 
https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt
https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Cara Stern 
https://x.com/carastern
https://bsky.app/profile/carastern.bsky.social

Meredith Martin 
https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
https://bsky.app/profile/meredithmartin.bsky.social

Sean Foreman
@seanegertonforeman
https://bsky.app/profile/seanforeman.bsky.social

Canadian Civil
youtube.com/CanadianCivil

Co-op Student
Francis Gabriel Carmona

Brought to you by the Missing Middle Initiative https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

Housing affordability is increasingly shaping how young people think about politics, political parties, and the future of democracy.

On this episode of DemograFix, Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern explore what research tells us about the relationship between the housing crisis and young people's political views across North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Does declining housing affordability deepen the divide between younger and older voters? Is it pushing young people away from centrist parties, or toward the left or right? And what happens when an entire generation starts to lose faith in its ability to ever own a home?

Mike puts six statements about housing and politics to Cara, drawing on academic research and polling data to explore how housing affordability is reshaping political priorities, polarization, voter engagement, and the desire for homeownership.

Chapters:

00:00 Housing Affordability Is a Global Crisis

01:26 Could the Housing Crisis Radicalize Young Voters?

03:45 Is Housing Widening the Generational Political Divide?

06:24 Is the Housing Crisis Polarizing Young Voters?

10:12 Is Housing Pushing Young People Left or Right?

13:11 How Housing Is Creating a New Class Divide

17:12 Is the Housing Crisis Driving Political Disengagement?

19:38 Do Young People Still Want to Own a Home?

Research/links:

The Dangerous Disillusionment of Young Canadians
https://macleans.ca/politics/the-dangerous-disillusionment-of-young-canadians/

How to lose friends and alienate people: The social and political consequences of Europe’s housing crisis: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/17816858241274918 

Three inconvenient truths:How to stop housing radicalising the young and killing the political centre
https://www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/5.pdf 

Economy and Space piece
https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/241804034/0308518x211022363.pdf

What drives support for large-scale housing reform?
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19491247.2026.2630075

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

Join us for an exclusive post-speech interview with Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers following her address to the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and CFA Society Victoria.

In this conversation, Rogers sits down to unpack her frank speech on Canada's housing affordability dilemma. We discuss why interest rates are too blunt of a tool to fix housing, how Canada's heavy reliance on residential real estate impacts our national productivity, and what regulatory stress tests actually achieved versus what they couldn't fix. Plus, we dive into the trade-offs of measuring shelter costs in the CPI and what it will genuinely take to untangle the Canadian economy from the housing trap.

Research:

Canada’s housing market / Le marché canadien du logement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C9jD5xQJdM

Canada’s mortgage market—A question of balance Remarksby Carolyn Rogers at the Economic Club of Canada, November 6, 2024

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/11/canadas-mortgage-market-a-question-of-balance/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt examine how Canada’s outdated Employment Insurance model leaves young professionals and gig workers behind during record spikes in youth unemployment. They explore why current rules penalize urban renters, how maximum benefits fall short of basic living costs, and what practical policy reforms could fix the system for the modern workforce.

Chapters:

00:00 Canada’s EI System Wasn’t Built for Today’s Workers

01:02 How Employment Insurance Became Outdated

02:16 How EI Eligibility Actually Works

03:10 Why Young Workers Are Falling Through the EI Gaps

06:23 EI Doesn’t Cover Most Gig Workers

07:38 The EI Rules That Punish Short-Term Jobs

09:24 What Happens When EI Runs Out?

11:11 Why Ottawa’s EI Fixes Aren’t Helping Young Workers

15:03 EI Benefits Don’t Go Very Far in Toronto

17:42 How We Could Actually Fix Employment Insurance

Research:

Statistics Canada - Employment Insurance Coverage Survey, 2024 (youth eligibility 50.3%, part-time 41.6%):

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/251029/dq251029a-eng.htm

Statistics Canada - Labour Force Survey, July 2026 (youth unemployment 12.6%):

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260807/dq260807a-eng.htm

Service Canada - EI regular benefits eligibility and the qualifying period rule:

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-regular-benefit/eligibility.html

Service Canada - EI benefit amount (55%, $729 weekly max, $68,900 MIE for 2026):

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-regular-benefit/benefit-amount.html

ESDC Digest of Benefit Entitlement Principles - long-tenured worker definition and 20 extra weeks:

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/digest/chapter-1/extend-benefit-period.html

ESDC - EI Monitoring and Assessment Report 2024-25, Chapter 2 (34.4% entitlement exhaustion rate):

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/monitoring2025/chapter2.html

Canada Gazette SOR/2026-64 - 25.4% of unemployed were long-term unemployed in January 2026:

https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2026/2026-04-08/html/sor-dors64-eng.html

Rentals.ca March 2026 Rent Report - Toronto one-bedroom asking rent $2,206:

https://rentals.ca/blog/rentals-ca-march-2026-rent-report

Statistics Canada - Experiences of self-employed workers in Canada, 2023:

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/240603/dq240603b-eng.htm

Canada Employment Insurance Commission - 2026 premium rate and $17.2B Operating Account deficit:

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/premium/rates2026.html

ESDC - EI modernization consultations, Phase 2 What We Heard report (2022):

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2022/09/government-of-canada-releases-report-on-phase-2-of-the-employment-insurance-modernization-consultations.html

IRPP - Canada's EI Is Once Again Failing Its Stress Test (benefit exhaustion as the coverage driver):

https://irpp.org/research-studies/ei-failing-stress/

C.D. Howe Institute - Should gig workers be covered by the EI regime? (the case against):

https://cdhowe.org/publication/providing-gig-workers-ei-no-easy-answer/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

As life milestones like finishing school, buying a house, and getting married get pushed further into our 30s, biology remains the one deadline that refuses to bend. In this episode of DemograFix, hosts Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern take a deep dive into the business, economics, and realities of egg freezing, sparked by U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) publicly sharing her own fertility journey.

Mike and Cara discuss how skyrocketing housing prices, student debt, and extended education force modern life choices to clash directly with biological clocks. They break down what real-world data shows about live birth success rates, explain why calling the procedure an insurance policy is deeply misleading, and unpack the steep financial burden and physical toll involved. 

While egg freezing gives many people options and extra time, this episode asks the bigger question of whether medical technology can truly fix the broader structural economic problems delaying family life today. 

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro: Delayed Milestones and Biological Realities

00:42 - AOC’s Journey & Public Misconceptions Around Egg Freezing

01:52 - Why Economic Factors Are Pushing Fertility Later

03:58 - Corporate Benefits: Workplace Culture vs. True Solutions

05:12 - The Emotional and Physical Reality of the Process

07:12 - High-Pressure Marketing and "Insurance Policy" Claims

09:50 - What the Data Actually Says About Success Rates

12:11 - Ideal Ages vs. Realities of When People Freeze Eggs

13:28 - Financial Costs and Lack of Public Coverage

15:12 - Common Myths About Aging Eggs and Fertility

16:15 - The Need for Clinic Transparency and Industry Regulation

17:20 - Conclusion: Fix Structural Causes, Not Just Biological Clocks 

Research/links:

CARTR Plus Annual Report 2025

https://cfas.ca/_Library/CARTR/2025_CARTR_annual_report_CFAS_2024_Data_.pdf

Fertility Inc - Investigative Journalism Bureau

https://ijb.utoronto.ca/projects/fertility-inc/

Elective Egg Freezing for Age-Related Fertility Decline

https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/6/E142

Mount Sinai Fertility - What to know about egg freezing

https://mountsinaifertility.com/2025/03/28/what-to-know-about-egg-freezing/

With Big Choices Ahead, Ocasio-Cortez Navigates New Territory

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/12/us/politics/with-big-choices-ahead-ocasio-cortez-navigates-new-territory.html

Ocasio-Cortez’s decision riles some on right, while also winning admiration

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6030686-aoc-egg-freezing-controversy/

AOC's egg-freezing posts on Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/aoc

And her TikTok

https://www.tiktok.com/@aoc

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

In this episode of Classonomics, host Mike Moffatt sits down with financial advice guru David Chilton, author of the Canadian classic The Wealthy Barber and former co-host of Dragon's Den. Decades after his original bestseller offered foundational advice to young Canadians, Chilton reflects on how drastically the economic landscape has shifted, and why writing his updated edition proved far more challenging.

The conversation dives deep into the realities facing young adults today, from ubiquitous credit and skyrocketing housing costs to the inflation rates hit hardest by major life stages. Chilton and Moffatt dissect the underlying factors behind housing unaffordability, such as stubborn land costs and municipal development fees, while addressing the growing "brain drain" of talent moving away from expensive urban centers. They also evaluate whether renting and investing the difference in broad-market, low-cost ETFs can outperform traditional homeownership, the dangers of online sports gambling among young men, and how older generations truly feel about housing value trade-offs.

Finally, Chilton shares actionable, practical guidance tailored for three groups: policy recommendations for economic productivity, non-financial advice on staying optimistic for recent graduates, and smart pre-retirement steps for mid-career professionals.

Chapters:

Pop up video around 8:55 - mcmansions ep https://youtu.be/doxJHEqiuV0?si=kIU6rVuB_fsCGNaZ

Research links:

The Wealthy Barber 2025 Indigo Exclusive: The Fully Updated All-Time Canadian Classic

https://www.indigo.ca/products/the-wealthy-barber-2025-indigo-exclusive

The Wealthy Barber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealthy_Barber

https://thewealthybarber.com/

Steve Saretsky: Canadian Real Estate—CRAZY Times Have Led to CRAZY Times | TWB Podcast #26

https://youtu.be/C_KaFwUPvkM

Why Developers Only Seem to Build McMansions

https://youtu.be/doxJHEqiuV0?si=nqMJgAb9jNlT4e4Y

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil