Cara Stern, Mike Moffatt, and Meredith Martin
213 episodes listed below
Canadian affordability, explained through the policy machinery.
The Missing Middle Podcast turns Canadian cost-of-living debates into practical policy arguments. Its episodes connect bracket creep, housing starts, resale prices, family-sized rentals, and electoral reform to the daily math of getting ahead.
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The Missing Middle Podcast covers Canadian affordability with a particular eye for the policy details that rarely survive a headline. Its core subject is the gap between official optimism and lived economic pressure. A housing start can look like good news until the episode explains what gets counted, when it gets counted, and why studios and one-bedrooms do not solve the problem of family-sized homes. An inflation number can look tidy until the show walks through the consumer basket, product quality adjustments, and the uneven way prices land across age groups and households. The pacing is conversational, but the frame is analytical. Housing is the show’s home base. Recent episodes examine HST changes, weak pre-construction sales, resale price pressure, second-time buyers stuck after a starter home, seniors downsizing, and the near-absence of three-bedroom apartments in much of Canada. The show keeps returning to a practical question: what would actually make homes easier to build, buy, rent, or move into? Taxes get similar treatment. Bracket creep becomes more than a technical phrase; it becomes a way to show how middle-income workers can pay more without becoming richer. The podcast also reaches beyond housing into electoral reform and meritocracy, asking how Canada’s institutions shape who gets heard and who gets ahead. Its policy vocabulary is accessible without being simplistic. The hosts and guests use examples, polling, program design, and economic concepts to make arguments that are specific enough to disagree with. That is part of the appeal. The Missing Middle Podcast is not a broad political chat show with housing sprinkled in. It is a Canadian affordability desk, built around the places where tax rules, construction economics, demographic change, and political incentives collide.
Made for: For Canadians who want housing, tax, inflation, and opportunity debates explained with numbers, context, and plain language. It especially suits listeners frustrated by slogans but still interested in workable policy fixes.
What sets it apart: The show links everyday affordability pain to specific mechanisms: HST rebates, bracket indexing, housing-start definitions, resale incentives, and electoral systems. It is more granular than most politics shows and more conversational than a policy paper.
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.
Canada's housing ladder meets its building-code fine print, so your outrage has to pass inspection.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A focused look at the buyers Canada keeps leaving out.
Classonomics keeps its focus on second-time homebuyers, a group that tends to get lost in housing talk. The case is straightforward: extend the first-time homebuyers HST rebate to anyone buying a primary residence, and the policy could help seniors downsize while opening larger…
Illinois policy, straight from Springfield.
Public health explained at decision speed.
The Missing Middle Podcast examines whether Canada's fertility rate of 1.25 children per woman in 2024 reflects reduced desire for children or the financial difficulty of taking parental leave.
The Missing Middle Podcast examines whether Canadian suburbs will remain in demand as immigration, aging baby boomers, and housing preferences reshape the market.
The Missing Middle Podcast argues that a third child has become a luxury in Canadian cities, pointing to the Financial Times' viral piece last summer and a 2008 Washington Post article on the same idea.
This episode analyzes why young Canadians are increasingly unhappy compared to older generations, examining data from the World Happiness Report and exploring potential causes beyond social media.
This episode explains how bracket creep quietly raises taxes on middle-class Canadians as inflation pushes wages into higher tax brackets.
This episode examines how inflation is measured in Canada and why official rates may underestimate the real cost increases experienced by different demographics.
The episode discusses how Canada's electoral system distorts policy outcomes and argues for proportional representation as a key reform.
The Missing Middle Podcast episode “Second-Time Buyers Are Screwed (And Ignored)” argues that Ontario and Canadian housing policy has focused on first-time buyers while overlooking couples who need to move out of small condos into family-sized homes.
This episode debates whether Canada is a meritocracy and explores why the middle class is struggling despite hard work.
This episode critiques misleading housing data and discusses the disconnect between housing starts and actual affordability for young Canadians.
This episode discusses the scarcity of family-sized rental apartments in Canada and the need for building code changes to address the housing crisis.
This episode debates the federal government's role in Canada's housing crisis and whether young Canadians can still achieve homeownership.
This episode examines the decline of ownership in Canada, from homes to digital goods, and its implications for the middle class.
Hosts discuss how crime and disorder affect public support for dense urban development in Canada.
The hosts discuss generational stereotypes and how they relate to economic challenges like housing affordability.
The hosts discuss Ontario's Green Belt and whether it is possible to build enough homes in the GTA without opening it up, addressing housing affordability and political controversy.
This episode grades Canadian provinces on their housing performance, with New Brunswick and PEI earning top marks while Ontario receives the lowest grade.
The hosts discuss think tanks, their funding, and whether they are a realistic career option for Canada's young middle class.
This episode discusses how young Canadians face high taxes and rising costs, making homeownership difficult, and explores whether tax reform can help.