Cities across Canada are implementing vacant home taxes to address the issue of homes sitting empty. These taxes aim to encourage owners to sell or rent out their vacant properties. Economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern discuss the challenges in implementation of these taxes including issues with reporting and enforcement. Studies have shown that these taxes have had a small but positive impact in getting homes back on the market, without slowing down housing construction. 

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

On May 23, professionals who work in the industry to develop missing middle housing, as well as those interested in building them, gathered at the Toronto Reference Library for a one-day conference.

The Missing Middle podcast team spoke to the presenters and will be sharing those interviews with you each week on Fridays throughout the next month.

Ryan Valente is a project manager for Highcroft Homes, where he works on custom home development in Toronto. He talks about what it's like building in Toronto these days, and what still needs to change.

Links:
Highcroft Homes https://www.highcrofthomes.ca/

Producers: 
Cara Stern https://twitter.com/carastern
Meredith Martin https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
Ruth Tecle

Technical production by Mike Greene https://www.instagram.com/mikegreenemedia/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

In this conversation, Cara and Mike discuss the financial considerations of having children. They touch on topics such as housing costs, childcare expenses, and the impact on income during parental leave. They also explore the limitations of the government's childcare program and the need for increased availability of affordable childcare options. The conversation highlights the challenges faced by younger generations in affording housing and starting a family, and the potential consequences of these challenges on population growth and societal cohesion.

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

On May 23, professionals who work in the industry to develop missing middle housing, as well as those interested in building them, gathered at the Toronto Reference Library for a one-day conference.

The Missing Middle podcast team spoke to the presenters and will be sharing those interviews with you each week on Fridays throughout this month.

Naama Blonder is an architect and urban planner with Smart Density, which she co-founded. She spoke to us on the day Toronto City Council was about to approve an expansion to what's allowed to be built on its major streets -- which previously had been much more limited than you'd think!

Links:
Smart Density https://smartdensity.com/
Naama Blonder https://x.com/naama_blonder

Producers: 
Cara Stern https://twitter.com/carastern
Meredith Martin https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
Ruth Tecle

Technical production by Mike Greene https://www.instagram.com/mikegreenemedia/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

There's been a lot of news lately about the low-wage stream of the temporary foreign worker program -- but the high-wage stream has similar problems.

In this episode, Cara and Mike explore the types of jobs that are being filled through this stream, and whether the wages offered are truly competitive. They worry about the impact of bringing in foreign tech workers on the wages and opportunities for domestic tech workers, many of who end up leaving Canada in pursuit of better opportunities. 

They suggest reforms to the program, such as making it harder to prove a shortage of local workers and increasing wage transparency.

Links:
Reddit thread: "I made a map of every employer who had a LMIA accepted because they couldn't find Canadian workers (2023-Present)"
https://www.reddit.com/r/torontoJobs/comments/1ehrmuw/i_made_a_map_of_every_employer_who_had_a_lmia/?rdt=62928

Link to gov data:
https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/90fed587-1364-4f33-a9ee-208181dc0b97

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

On May 23, professionals who work in the industry to develop missing middle housing, as well as those interested in building them, gathered at the Toronto Reference Library for a one-day conference.

The Missing Middle podcast team spoke to the presenters and will be sharing those interviews with you each week on Fridays throughout the next month.

Blair Scorgie is a planner and urban designer, as well as an instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University. He talks about Toronto's newest multiplex bylaws, and what it could mean for building affordable, missing middle housing.

Chapters:
00:00 Introducing Blair Scorgie
02:29 Creating a New Market for Development
04:08 The Need for Incentives for Affordable Housing
05:35 Recommendations for Further Changes to the Bylaws

Links:
https://x.com/BlairScorgie

Producers: 
Cara Stern https://twitter.com/carastern
Meredith Martin https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
Ruth Tecle

Technical production by Mike Greene https://www.instagram.com/mikegreenemedia/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

Canada has seen a significant increase in the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers, raising concerns about the impact on the job market. The low-wage stream of temporary foreign workers is tied to specific employers and is measured relative to the provincial median wage. The government made changes to the program in 2022, allowing more temporary foreign workers and weakening the rules around their hiring. This has led to questions about whether the government is intentionally suppressing wages and making it easier for corporations to function with low wages. 

Mike and Cara discuss the effects of this program on Canadian residents, and what reforms are needed to make it fairer to workers.

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

On May 23, professionals who work in the industry to develop missing middle housing, as well as those interested in building them, gathered at the Toronto Reference Library for a one-day conference.

The Missing Middle podcast team spoke to the presenters and will be sharing those interviews with you each week on Fridays throughout the month.

Max Goyzman works for Peakhill Capital, which provides financing for commercial real estate projects -- mostly apartment buildings. He discusses how financing works, and some of the challenges with lending money for missing middle project.

Links:
Peakhill Capital https://www.peakhillcapital.com/

Producers: 
Cara Stern https://twitter.com/carastern
Meredith Martin https://twitter.com/meredithmartin
Ruth Tecle

Technical production by Mike Greene https://www.instagram.com/mikegreenemedia/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

Back in 2021, Mike Moffatt wrote: "The top-10 most common ages to leave Toronto are the ten between the ages of 31–35 and 0–4. The single most common age is zero — that is, babies under the age of 1. That’s who is leaving Toronto."

Three years later, it's gotten worse. Young Families are leaving big cities across the country. Mike and Cara discuss the challenges young families face and the consequences on these cities.

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

On May 23, professionals who work in the industry to develop missing middle housing, as well as those interested in building them, gathered at the Toronto Reference Library for a one-day conference.

The Missing Middle podcast team spoke to the presenters and will be sharing those interviews with you each week on Fridays throughout the next month.

Stephen Smith works for the Center for Building in North America, and he discusses how strict elevator policy in this continent has cut down on the number of homes available. It also dictates what types of homes are being built. He proposes a number of changes that could hopefully lead to more and better homes in North America.

Links:

The Center for Building in North America
The American Elevator Explains Why Housing Costs Have Skyrocketed 

Producers: 

Cara Stern https://twitter.com/carastern

Meredith Martin https://twitter.com/meredithmartin

Ruth Tecle

Technical production by Mike Greene https://www.instagram.com/mikegreenemedia/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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