New episode! Canada’s parental leave system was built for a 20th-century workforce, and it shows. While the cost of living climbs and the definition of a career shifts, our policy framework has remained stubbornly stuck in the past. Watch here: www.missingmiddleini...

Latest at the Globe, on how the politics and policies of a country changes when voters feel they have no stake in economic growth. I like the headline: Tobi Lutke’s idea that pensioners be excluded from voting is offensive. The concern behind it isn’t

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

Demographic and social trends are creating an electorate that worries more about their own bank accounts than Canada’s prosperity

theglobeandmail.com

The parents of one of the best people I know lost their home in rural Quebec due to a house fire and they need to rebuild. Please help them out if you can. And to my builder/developer friends, they could use any extra materials you have. Help here:

Donate to Help Mike and Judy Start Over After Rural Quebec House Fire, organized by Sarah Cross

On May 13th, my father and stepmother lost their home near Kaz… Sarah Cross needs your support for Help Mike and Judy Start Over After Rural Quebec House Fire

gofund.me

Yup. I dunno, but I think a monster truck with poor visibility is a bit more dangerous to the neighbourhood than a home being 2 inches closer to the lot line than zoning rules allow.

Toon Dreessen@toondreessen.bsky.social · 5d ago

And if your lot mods warrant site plan approval it can take 12-18m for approval and more than a year for a legal agreement with zero accountability from the city for taking so long and driving up the cost to the point where you have to cancel the project bc it’s too expensive so you wasted $500k

Something I'll never understand - if I want to make substantial enough changes to my house, it has to go through a neighbourhood consultation process, but someone on my block can buy a vehicle that significantly increases the chances one of my kids gets run over.

David Zipper@davidzipper.bsky.social · 5d ago

Which vehicles most endanger the drivers of other cars? Giant pickup trucks — and the Dodge Charger Source: www.iihs.org/news/detail/...

I was delighted to be invited on the Culture Lab Podcast (@CultureLab_Pod) to answer the question on everyone's mind: "Why do big cities hate millennials?" FWIW, the framing of that question isn't entirely fair. Cities also hate Gen Z. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watc...

New episode! In "Why Suburbs Will Stay in High Demand for Decades," we show how 20+ years of low construction, immigration, and demand from Gen Z have created a massive market for suburban homes that Boomers will vacate. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watc...

Tonight's entertainment: The girl and I are at the Weird Al concert in Ottawa.

All jokes aside, getting people to double up has been very much baked into Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy for the past 5 decades. Not voluntary doubling up, which might indeed reduce housing costs, but coerced via under-projecting housing demand and asking munis to under-build housing.

The Beaverton@thebeaverton.com · 2w ago

British Columbia to address cost of housing by legalizing polygamy

New piece on our Substack: We've Been Measuring Homeownership Wrong. A better metric shows that homeownership is even less common among younger Canadians than official statistics suggest. Read here: www.missingmiddleini...

New piece at the Globe. We look at who is moving out of the City of Toronto (along with Vancouver, Montreal, and Peel Region), and how it is negatively impacting our economy and productivity, and increasing political polarization:

Who are Canada’s big city leavers? Mainly 25 to 44-year-olds, with young children

Outmigration brings benefits and costs to smaller communities, but at the end of the day, we lose when cities price out their middle class

theglobeandmail.com

This is such an important new paper. The traditional "homeowner rate" calculation misses trends like adults living with their parents longer. The Minnesota Fed is suggesting an alternative measure. Read here: www.minneapolisfed.o...

Today in mixed feelings. My daughter and I went to the used book store today. I saw a book that I'm in. That was nice. Less nice: It was in the history section.

This is one of those things I wish I had said. We see it here in Canada as well, as large parts of the political spectrum have decided that the welfare of the middle class is, at best, a secondary concern.

New episode! In the past, a luxury car or an expensive watch was a public signifier of wealth. In recent years, a new status symbol has emerged: Having 3 or more children. Watch "The Third Kid is Becoming a Luxury Status Symbol" here: www.youtube.com/watc...

New episode! The federal government's well-intentioned 500K housing-start goal is outdated given changing immigration policy and fails to account for the need for a diversity of homes. Watch "Canada's Housing Goal No Longer Makes Sense" here:

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

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

youtube.com

The City of Toronto charges a five-figure Land Transfer Tax on homebuyers. They also charge a Ticketmaster-like $102.56 "processing fee" on that tax, which is subject to HST. A tax on a fee on a tax to buy housing, a human right. Source: www.toronto.ca/servi...

And for those who prefer to read the transcript rather than watch/listen, here's a link to our Substack:

Why Gen Z Can’t Find a Summer Job

How the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, rising competition, and policy choices are reshaping Canada's youth job market.

open.substack.com

Corporate lobbying and government policy have created a cheat code for business through the TFW program. As young Canadians face historic unemployment, Cara Stern & @MikePMoffatt explain how the system is shutting young workers out of the job market

Why Young People Can't Find Jobs Anymore

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

youtu.be

When a business faces a labour shortage, the free market says it should raise wages. So why is Canada’s government stepping in to make labour cheaper instead? Cara Stern & @MikePMoffatt explain:

New episode: Why Gen Z Can’t Find a Summer Job. How the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, rising competition, and policy choices are reshaping Canada's youth job market. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watc...

The City of Toronto made this guy pay over 200K in development and planning taxes in order to build supportive housing for his kids, allegedly told him he could get those taxes refunded, and is now telling him he can't. What a mess. www.cbc.ca/news/cana...

New piece at the Globe and Mail! Despite their reputation, young people aren't more spendthrift than past generations. They drink less, they smoke less, they spend less on clothes, and housing takes up an increasing amount of their income. Read here:

Despite their reputation as spendthrifts, today’s young adults are quite frugal

Older generations have logged the largest rises in spending in recent years, Statistics Canada survey shows

theglobeandmail.com

New episode! Cara sits down with Jasmine Steffler of Walkable Parenthood and Oh The Urbanity! to explore why Canada’s parental leave system is among the most generous in the world, yet still leaves many new parents struggling. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watc...

RE: BC condo deal. I'm seeing a lot of opposition to the idea that governments shouldn't acquire homes that aren't large enough for families. It's a fair point, and should raise questions about the projects that Build Canada Homes is financing, like this one:

I absolutely love this, and it reminds me of one of my favourite childhood memories. My Dad was a highschool hockey coach, beer/industrial league hockey player, and played in an exceptionally competitive hockey pool every year. He won a couple of times, but usually finished in the top 25%...

Kathryn VanArendonk@kvanaren.bsky.social · last mo.

my husband is doing fantasy baseball for the first time. he does not follow baseball. his team is run entirely by our 10yo neighbor, who gets a split of his winnings if she helps my husband defeat the rest of the league. they’re in 1st place! but now, a problem: today she left for sleepaway camp

New episode! Large parts of Canada stopped building family-sized homes over the last 20 years. Today, we examine the regulatory and market conditions that led to that outcome. Watch "Why Canada Stopped Building Homes for Families" here: www.youtube.com/watc...

It's weeks like this where I fear for Canada's future. We have governments putting out housing plans they can't explain, and a media that struggles to report even basic facts, and won't correct their errors. I'm not sure how Canadians can be expected to trust our institutions.

New episode! The 2026 FIFA World Cup is finally here, but there's a question that needs to be asked: will this massive event actually deliver the economic win that was promised? Watch here: www.youtube.com/watc...

Stevenson is right that wealthier neighbourhoods get favoured treatment on infill decisions. Happens everywhere in Canada. Municipalities are highly regressive and it's telling that a populist right-wing politician points this out, rather than the left.

Stevenson claims council plays favourites when wealthier neighbourhoods oppose infill development

Pushback from neighbours isn’t uncommon when city council considers planning applications for infill developments that add density to existing neighbourhoods.

ctvnews.ca