Couverture de The Missing Middle Podcast

The Missing Middle Podcast

The Missing Middle Podcast

De : Cara Stern Mike Moffatt and Meredith Martin
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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.

© 2026 The Missing Middle Podcast Politique et gouvernement Sciences politiques
Épisodes
  • Three Kids Are the New Status Symbol

    Three Kids Are the New Status Symbol
    Jul 17 2026

    Has having three kids become a status symbol in Canada?

    In this episode of DemograFix, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt explore why having three children has become a luxury for many middle-class Canadian families. From the cost of family-sized housing to childcare, career sacrifices, transportation, and the changing expectations placed on parents, they break down why so many families stop at two, even when they wanted more.

    The conversation also looks at Canadian and international research on fertility, Quebec's childcare experiment, why family-sized homes have almost disappeared from our cities, and what governments would actually need to change if they want Canadians to have the families they hope for.

    If you've ever wondered why three kids now feels like a status symbol, this episode explains the economics behind it.


    Topics covered:

    • Why Canada's fertility rate has reached record lows
    • Is a third child becoming a luxury good?
    • How housing shortages shape family size
    • Why family-sized homes are disappearing
    • The hidden career costs of having children
    • Does affordable childcare actually increase birth rates?
    • Why cities are losing young families
    • What policies could make raising larger families affordable again



    Chapters:

    00:00 Why 3 Kids Are Becoming a Rich Person's Luxury

    00:58 When Families Become Status Symbols

    03:03 The Housing Crisis is Eliminating the Third Child

    05:09 Canada Stopped Building Family Homes

    06:28 The Big Childcare Problem

    07:55 Does Cheap Childcare Actually Boost Birth Rates?

    12:15 The Real Cost of a Third Baby

    15:07 Families Are Being Forced Out of Cities

    17:20 How Canada Could Make Three Kids Affordable Again


    Research/links:

    More Crowding, Fewer Babies: The Effects of Housing Density on Fertility | Institute for Family Studies

    https://ifstudies.org/blog/more-crowding-fewer-babies-the-effects-of-housing-density-on-fertility


    The ultimate status symbol? A big family

    https://www.ft.com/content/a4025e93-7552-4f8f-8ce2-e785a7d950a4?syn-25a6b1a6=1


    Opinion | Three Kids? You Showoffs. - The Washington Post

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2008/04/06/three-kids-you-showoffs/6b7952ed-4547-4f9b-ae9b-cd9d2f1d8aa0/


    Why are some families with children leaving the inner city and other staying?

    https://www.scup.com/doi/10.18261/njus.2.1.2

    Home Alone | Cardus

    https://www.cardus.ca/research/family/reports/home-alone/



    Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

    Produced by Meredith Martin

    Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/
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    19 min
  • Is Chasing Too Many New Homes Canada’s Next Big Failure?

    Is Chasing Too Many New Homes Canada’s Next Big Failure?
    Jul 15 2026

    Is 500,000 new homes a year really what Canada needs to solve the housing crisis?

    In this episode of the Missing Middle’s Classonomics Podcast, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux examine whether Canada's headline housing targets still make sense now that immigration has slowed and population growth has changed. They discuss why housing starts can be a misleading metric, why the type of housing being built matters just as much as the number of homes, and what governments should actually measure if the goal is restoring affordability.

    Topics covered:

    • Why the 500,000-home target may no longer be necessary
    • How immigration affects housing demand
    • Why housing starts don't tell the full story
    • The shortage of family-sized homes
    • High-rise condos vs. townhomes and detached homes
    • The hidden costs preventing more housing from being built
    • What metrics governments should focus on instead of housing starts
    • Can Canada restore middle-class housing affordability within a decade?

    Subscribe for more conversations on housing, affordability, economics, and public policy.

    Chapters:

    00:00 - Does Canada Really Need 500,000 Homes a Year?
    01:40 - Where Did the 500k Housing Starts Target Come From?
    02:47 - The Metrics Governments Should Focus On Instead
    04:11 - Balancing Housing Supply with Immigration Demand
    05:21 - The Population Math: Why 500k is Overkill
    06:40 - How Developers Bet on Future Immigration Policy
    08:39 - Why the Type of Housing Matters (High-Rises vs. Townhomes)
    10:12 - How Many Homes We Actually Need to Build
    11:08 - Solving the Crisis by Lowering Construction Costs
    13:04 - Will Baby Boomers Free Up Suburban Housing?

    Research/links

    The Impossible Trinity that Broke Canadian Housing

    https://open.substack.com/pub/missingmiddleinitiative/p/the-impossible-trinity-that-broke?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

    The Housing Trilemma: Why You Can't Afford a Home

    https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/the-housing-trilemma-why-you-cant

    Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

    Produced by Meredith Martin

    Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/
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    15 min
  • Is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Hurting Young People?

    Is the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Hurting Young People?
    Jul 10 2026
    When a business faces a labour shortage, the free market says they should raise wages. So why is Canada’s government stepping in to make labour cheaper instead?In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt dive into how Canada's low-wage Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program and the explosion of international student work caps have completely disrupted the laws of supply and demand. As Canadian youth face historic unemployment rates, we break down how corporate lobbying and government policy created a cheat code that insulates businesses from capitalism, while pushing young workers off the first rung of the career ladder.From the housing crisis in Alberta's mountain tourist towns to Tim Hortons' recent PR scramble, we expose the loop of corporate reliance on exploitable temporary labor and ask: how do we let the market actually fix itself?Topics covered:Canada's rising youth unemployment rateThe Temporary Foreign Worker Program explainedHow international student work rules affect the job marketWhy labour shortages don't always mean there aren't enough workersSeasonal jobs, tourism, and staff housingThe economics of wages, supply, and demandTim Hortons and the TFW controversyPolicy solutions to improve opportunities for young Canadians#Canada #YouthUnemployment #TemporaryForeignWorkers #Jobs #CanadianEconomy #LabourMarket #Economics #Immigration #PublicPolicy #MissingMiddleChapters:00:00 - The Free Market Myth in Canada01:24 - Gen Z vs. Gen X: The Youth Unemployment Crisis02:12 - Why Student Jobs Suddenly Vanished03:32 - How the TFW Program Ballooned Over 50 Years05:39 - The Corporate Lobbying Flipping Immigration Rules07:11 - Debunking the Alberta "Labour Shortage"09:47 - Why Canada Insulates Businesses From Capitalism11:11 - What "Dirty Dancing" Teaches Us About Seasonal Housing14:06 - The Dark Side of Temporary Work Regulations16:02 - Exposing Tim Hortons' "Local Hiring" PR Spin18:57 - How to Break the TFW Doom LoopResearch/links:Tourist towns ‘desperate’ for workers in Albertahttps://www.cp24.com/news/2026/03/28/i-have-to-find-at-least-35-people-before-june-1-worker-shortages-in-albertas-tourist-towns/Tim Hortons says it will hire locals, scale back temporary foreign workershttps://globalnews.ca/news/11863474/tim-hortons-temporary-foreign-workers/Tim Hortons is Committed to Local Hiring Launching National Campaign to Hire 10,000 Local Team Members https://www.news.timhortons.ca/en/articles/tim-hortons-is-committed-to-local-hiring-launching-national-campYouth unemployment in Canada jumped 57% in 3 years, hitting levels previously unseen outside a recessionhttps://thehub.ca/2026/05/07/canadas-youth-unemployment-jumped-57-in-3-years-hit-unprecedented-jobless-levels-outside-recession-by-2025/Youth unemployment in Canada near record highs since 2022; unprecedented levels outside of a recessionhttps://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/extraordinary-increase-youth-unemployment-canadahttps://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2026-04/extraordinary-increase-of-youth-unemployment-in-canada.pdfTemporary ForeignWorkers in Canada:Are They Really Filling Labour Shortages?https://cdhowe.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/commentary_407.pdfStatsCan: Drayton Valley statistical area sees lowest unemployment in Alberta at 4.9 per centhttps://www.bigwestcountry.ca/2026/06/05/statscan-drayton-valley-statistical-area-sees-lowest-unemployment-in-alberta-at-4-9-per-cent/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20Labour,5.3%20per%20cent%20in%20AprilCanada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programs - The Canadian Encyclopediahttps://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadas-temporary-foreign-worker-programsBusinesses face new limits on temporary foreign worker programhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tfw-program-new-limits-1.73337773 problems with the temporary foreign worker program and 3 possible fixes, according to expertshttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/temporary-foreign-worker-program-fixes-1.7633045Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina MaddeauxProduced by Meredith MartinFunded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/
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    22 min
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