The Missing Middle Podcast

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

How did bike lanes become the ultimate political wedge issue?

In this episode of DemograFix, Cara Stern sits down with Tom Babin, urban cycling advocate and creator of the YouTube channel Shifter, to break down the growing "bike-lash" across Canada and the U.S. From provincial overrides in Ontario and Alberta to the culture wars dividing suburban drivers and downtown commuters, we explore why bike infrastructure generates such intense debate.

We dive into the math behind induced demand, the reality of winter cycling, why "road diets" actually work, and how cities can design better, safer streets for everyone.

Chapters:

00:00:00 The Bike Lane Culture War

00:03:10 Bike Lanes & Politics: Evidence vs. Fact

00:05:03 How Amalgamation Ruined Everything

00:06:29 Do Anti-Bike Policies Actually Win Votes?

00:08:11 Why Biking Belongs on Both Sides of Politics

00:09:22 Debunking the "Empty Bike Lane" Myth

00:11:03 Why Pro-Bike Campaigns Are Failing in Suburbs

00:12:48 Ravine Trails vs. Real Urban Mobility

00:14:27 Do Winter Bike Lanes Actually Work?

00:15:54 The "One More Lane" Traffic Fallacy

00:17:47 Why Canadian Cities Build Bad Infrastructure

00:19:50 The "Road Diet" Fix

Research/links:

Ontario just made a ruling that could inform bike lane removal cases across Canada

Removing bike lanes will cost at least $48M: city staff report

Government of Alberta: Report concerns about bike lanes

Edmonton council approves $100M for bike infrastructure across city

Washington State’s new bicycle “Safety Stop” law allows people biking to treat stops signs as yield signs with some exceptions.

Guest Tom Babin's official urban cycling and commuting YouTube channel

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney will address the European Parliament in an effort to "create greater certainty, security, and prosperity for our peoples." Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Canada is seeking to become an "Associate Member" of the European Union. In our Answer Period livestream, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt will be talking about the benefits and drawbacks of a closer association with the European Union, what an associate membership could look like, and take viewer questions.

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

Why is Canadian housing so expensive and why are we getting so little for our money? In this episode of the Missing Middle Podcast, Mike Moffatt talks with Adam Mongrain of More and Better Housing about how Canada can build more affordable, better-quality homes while also tackling climate change and housing affordability.

They dig into why Canada struggles to build the “missing middle” housing that exists in cities around the world, and how zoning rules, building codes, construction costs and a lack of standardization are making it harder and more expensive to build the homes Canadians actually want. Adam explains why legalizing density isn’t about deregulation, how European-style housing could help lower costs, why Canadian elevators can cost four times as much as comparable ones in Switzerland, and how modern construction methods could transform the housing market.

They also discuss climate-resilient housing, the need for millions more social and not-for-profit homes, and the five “game changers” that More and Better Housing believes could help Canada build more and build better.

Chapters:

00:00 — Why Is Missing Middle Housing Missing?

02:27 — What Does “More and Better Housing” Mean?

04:51 — Can Better Housing Also Be More Affordable?

07:43 — Why New Housing Isn’t Worth the Price

11:23 — What Does “Legalizing Density” Actually Mean?

15:37 — How Building Codes Drive Up Housing Costs

19:14 — Why Factory-Built Housing Needs New Standards

21:57 — Building Housing for a Changing Climate

23:27 — Can Canada Afford Millions of Nonprofit Homes?

Research/links:

More and Better Housing Canada website: https://www.moreandbetterhousing.ca/ 

This is how we could fix a problem Canada has been overlooking for decadeshttps://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/this-is-how-we-could-fix-a-problem-canada-has-been-overlooking-for-decades/article_6970b764-8d33-4d7d-87d6-be8efea8038c.html 

Blueprint for More and Better Housing: https://housingandclimate.ca/blueprint/

Four Pathways to Housing Affordability report: https://housingandclimate.ca/2024/11/19/fourpathways/

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:

Kelly Hoban

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

Are Canadian elections actually fair if 7 million citizens are completely excluded from the process?

In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt unpack the hidden flaw in Canada’s electoral system: the complete disenfranchisement of children and young people. As Canada’s population ages, politicians are incentivized to cater to older voters while ignoring the long-term economic interests of younger generations.

We explore a radical yet historical solution: proxy voting. 

What if parents could cast ballots on behalf of their children? Could giving every citizen a voice from birth fix our policy incentives? And is it an impossible reform? 

Chapters:

00:00 - Should Children Have a Vote in Canada?

03:34 - How Demographic Voting Shapes Economic Policy

05:48 - The Issue With Relying on Youth Voter Turnout to Solve Things

08:13 - What Is Proxy Voting for Parents?

10:22 - Would Proxy Voting Lead to Family-Friendly Policy?

12:17 - Can We Trust Parents to Vote in Their Child's Interest?

14:49 - Early Civic Engagement and Primary Caregiver Voting Rules

17:52 - Is Electoral Reform Truly Realistic in Canada?

22:52 - Why Power Disincentivizes Democratic Change 

Research/Links:

Vlandas study: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/980470 

Tobi Lutke’s idea that pensioners be excluded from voting is offensive. The concern behind it isn’t

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/article-tobi-lutke-shopify-tech-pensioners-vote/

How to give children the vote

https://milescorak.com/2012/04/20/how-to-give-children-the-vote/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Citizenship as a privilege or as a right: should children be given the vote?

https://milescorak.com/2013/03/28/citizenship-as-a-privilege-or-as-a-right-should-children-be-given-the-vote/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Should Children be Given the Vote?: Miles Corak at TEDxWaterloo 2013

https://youtu.be/anYFFlOtZKo?si=PYrUE7U_0RFuK2-y

Should children vote? I argue that there are reasonable ways to give children the vote in an interview with CBC radio

https://milescorak.com/2014/12/14/should-children-vote-i-argue-that-there-are-reasonable-ways-to-give-children-the-vote-in-an-interview-with-cbc-radio/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Why we should give children the vote

⁠https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/why-we-should-give-children-the-vote/article4101391/

Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Evidence from the United Kingdom Child Benefit

https://www.jstor.org/stable/146179?origin=crossref&seq=1

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil

Ontario has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031, but can our power grid actually handle the demand? In this episode of Classonomics, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt break down the $100B–$120B "last mile" infrastructure crisis quietly halting major housing projects across the province, including thousands of stalled homes in Brooklin, Whitby, and Ajax.

From the historical legacy of Sir Adam Beck’s publicly owned hydro model to modern electrification demands like EVs and heat pumps, we discuss why developers are being pushed to fund local grid expansions and what policy fixes, such as tax-exempt utility bonds and reforming the tax code’s 90/10 rule, can keep Ontario’s housing goals alive.

Topics Covered:

• Can Ontario’s Grid Handle 1.5 Million New Homes?
• Mega Transmission Lines vs. The Real Grid Bottleneck
• What is the "Last Mile" in Power Distribution?
• Case Study: Why 10,000 Homes Stalled in Brooklin, ON
• Skyrocketing Household Load: Heat Pumps & EV Chargers
• History Lesson: Sir Adam Beck & Ontario’s Original Power Vision
• "Build Ahead" vs. "Pay to Play": The Shift in Infrastructure Financing
• The Role of Local Distribution Companies (LDCs)
• Two Policy Fixes: Tax-Exempt Utility Bonds & Reforming the 90/10 Rule

#OntarioHousing #CanadianPolitics #HousingCrisis #EnergyGrid #Infrastructure #TheMissingMiddle #SabrinaMaddeaux #MikeMoffatt

Chapters:

00:00 Can Ontario's Grid Power 1.5 Million Homes?

01:43 The "Last Mile" Bottleneck & Stalled Developments

04:00 EV Demand & Ontario's Electrification History

05:29 Public Utilities vs. "Pay for Growth"

07:14 Local Distribution Companies & Funding Friction

10:11 Two Policy Solutions to Fix Grid Financing

12:07 Final Thoughts & Outro

Research/links:

North America’s electricity grid is ready to grow. Manufacturers needed to build it are placing their bets

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-north-americas-electricity-grid-is-ready-to-grow-manufacturers-needed/

Electrical Load map:

https://oeb.planview.ca/Ontario-capacity-map/

Debt/Deficit MissingMiddle Episode referred to in video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2zza3GwZ7E

Why a multibillion-dollar electricity infrastructure gap is threatening Ontario’s housing goals

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ontario-cant-build-homes-without-rebuilding-power-grid/

Tracking housing supply progress

https://www.ontario.ca/page/tracking-housing-supply-progress#section-0

Ontario Launches Expert Panel to Strengthen Local Electricity Distribution

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1006663/ontario-launches-expert-panel-to-strengthen-local-electricity-distribution?utm_source=chatgpt.com

2025 Ontario Economic - Outlook and Fiscal Review

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oTK_RueWPjD1Oc1YXVlT8nslnx9Ue_w6/view

Forward Guidance: Canada’s Energy Future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bySyMcg-p_4

Adam Beck

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-adam-beck

Build Faster Fund

https://opencouncil.ca/program/building-faster-fund/

An early history of hydroelectric power in Niagara Falls

https://nflibrary.ca/articles/an-early-history-of-hydroelectric-power-in-niagara-falls

Ontario’s electric history

https://thevarsity.ca/2026/02/03/ontarios-electric-history/

To Build More Homes, Ontario Launching Building Faster Fund and Expanding Strong Mayor Powers

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1003397/to-build-more-homes-ontario-launching-building-faster-fund-and-expanding-strong-mayor-powers

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Edited by Sean Foreman and Canadian Civil