The Missing Middle Podcast

In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern sits down with YouTuber Paige Saunders to discuss the one structural glitch that is sabotaging Canada’s economy, healthcare, and housing market: our electoral system.
While most democracies have moved on to Proportional Representation, Canada remains stuck with a model that empowers swing ridings and ignores millions of voters. Paige explains why this monopoly on power prevents real innovation and how a simple change in how we vote could lead to a 20% performance increase across the board.
In this video:
How our voting system benefits wealthy people
Which voting system would a villain choose?
Why Ranked Choice is a trap for multi-party democracies.
The path forward: Why we need a binding Citizens' Assembly.
Check out Paige Saunders' channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PaigeMTL
Chapters:
00:37 Intro: The hidden force behind Canada’s biggest problems
01:12 What’s broken about Canada’s voting system
01:48 How swing ridings control the country
04:03 Why politicians ignore entire groups of voters
05:26 Does proportional representation hurt suburbs?
06:59 Populism, power, and lack of accountability
08:59 Why this won’t magically fix housing
10:17 Why politicians refuse to change the system
11:11 Why most Canadians don’t even notice the problem
12:58 Is Canada heading down the US/UK path?
15:13 Why electoral reform keeps failing
19:40 The real barrier to change
24:24 The AI test: which system is worst?
29:12 “I was shocked Canada still uses this”
32:28 Is Canada falling behind on democracy?
36:03 Can anything actually force reform?
40:00 What a better system could look like
42:45 Final thoughts: a more Canadian democracy

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

You built equity, planned ahead, and did everything right, so why is the next step on the housing ladder completely out of reach?

Canada’s housing crisis is usually framed around first-time buyers struggling to get into the market. But a growing number of Canadians already made that leap and are now stuck. Couples who bought small condos with the expectation of eventually upgrading are discovering that the path forward has quietly disappeared.

In this episode, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux unpack the rise of the “trapped” second-time homebuyer; households in their late 20s to early 40s who did everything right, built equity, and planned ahead, only to find that larger, family-sized homes are further out of reach than ever. With prices outpacing incomes, policy focused on first-time buyers, and a shortage of suitable homes, the traditional housing ladder no longer works.

What happens when an entire generation can’t move up, even after getting in? And what does it mean for family formation, economic mobility, and the future of Canada’s housing system?

Chapters:
00:00 The "Broken Ladder": Canada’s Second-Time Homebuyer Crisis
00:58 Trapped in the Starter Home:The Condo Squeeze
03:01 The Over-Focus on Shoebox Condos vs. Family Homes
04:13 How the Housing Dream Changed
05:44 Is the “Condo-to-Detached” Model a Ponzi Scheme?
06:39 The “Goldilocks” Scenario for Sustainable Housing Gains
08:16 Polling Data: What Ontarians Actually Care About
10:17 The Case for Extending HST Rebates Beyond First-Time Buyers
11:11 Policy Dorks vs. The Public: Finding Common Ground
14:00 Property Taxes: The "Political Third Rail"
15:45 Should Housing Rules Be Handled by the Province?
16:35 Why Down Payment Support Might Be Hurting More Than Helping
18:43 Renters’ Rights & The Future of Canadian Housing
Research Links:
New OREA survey finds Ontarians support change and transparency in housing costs and policies
Housing in Ontario: Perceptions, Impacts, And Solutions
Unlocking Homeownership: What Canadians Want from Housing Policy
A Blueprint to Restore Homeownership for Young Canadians
Is Ontario Ready to Spend $895M to Jumpstart Homebuilding?

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Is Canada still a “land of opportunity,” or has your success become a function of who your parents are?
In this segment, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt dive into the uncomfortable reality of meritocracy in Canada. While Boomers largely believe hard work still pays off, Millennials and Gen Z are seeing a different story. We break down the latest Ipsos polling data and Statistics Canada research that shows social mobility is eroding.
From the "Housing Theory of Everything" to the widening gap between equal opportunity and equal outcomes, we explore why the rules of the game have changed, and what we need to fix to make Canada fair again.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:46 Defining Meritocracy
1:12 Is Canada a Meritocracy? 
02:41 Measuring Meritocracy Income and Polls
04:23 Generational Divide in Ipsos Poll
05:54 Fairness Equal Opportunity vs Outcomes
07:15 Economists on Eroding Social Mobility
09:07 Increasing Distrust in Institutions & Distrust of Politicians
09:47 Changing Minds Understanding New Realities
11:13 Housing Crisis and Social Mobility
12:45 The Role of Effort combined with Environment

Research/links:

Generational Disconnect In Canada Ipsos Equalities Index 2025 - A 31-country Global Advisor Study
https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2025-08/generational-disconnect-in-Canada.pdf

Trends in Intergenerational Income Mobility and Income Inequality in Canada
Trends in Intergenerational Income Mobility and Income Inequality in Canada

International Fairness Day 2024: Canada’s commitment to fairness for every generation is more than an empty slogan – but it’s not yet a reality
https://www.if.org.uk/2024/11/18/international-fairness-day-2024-canadas-commitment-to-fairness-for-every-generation-is-more-than-an-empty-slogan-but-its-not-yet-a-reality/

A retreat from opportunity: Is the Canadian dream still alive?
https://thehub.ca/2025/11/10/deepdive-a-retreat-from-opportunity-is-the-canadian-dream-still-alive/

Intergenerational income mobility in Canada: Research highlights from two recent studies
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2023012/article/00001-eng.htm

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

In 2025, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) reported nearly 260,000 housing starts, a figure that suggests real progress on the housing crisis. But a deeper look reveals a much more complicated and concerning reality.

Most of the new supply is made up of small condos and apartments, not the family-sized homes people are looking for. Because housing starts are recorded late in the construction process, today’s data often reflects decisions made years ago, not current market conditions.

Even more concerning, pre-construction sales are falling across multiple cities. This raises serious questions about what housing supply will look like in the years ahead.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why CMHC’s housing starts data can be misleading
The difference between housing starts and real time market conditions
Why Canada is building smaller homes
The composition effect changing housing trends
What falling pre construction sales signal for the future

Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro: The Housing Data Disconnect
00:01:06 The Problem With CMHC Housing Starts Data
00:04:06 How to Fix Misleading Housing Metrics
00:05:14 The One-Size-Fits-All Data Problem
00:05:49 Generational Shifts in Home Size
00:07:05 Reality vs Data: Smaller Homes and Composition Effects
00:08:14 The Collapse of Pre-Construction Sales
00:09:12 Future Housing Market Outlook 

Research Links
CMHC Housing Report: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research/market-reports/housing-market/housing-market-outlook 

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.

Looking for a family-sized apartment in Canada feels almost impossible. In this episode, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt explore why they’re so rare in Canadian cities and why building regulations, zoning, and outdated fire safety rules make larger units nearly impossible to construct. Restrictive codes, high costs, and policy gaps mean that families often end up squeezed into spaces that don’t meet their needs or leave cities entirely.

This shortage has shaped urban life, contributed to declining family formation in cities, and limited opportunities for young families. Are regulations really protecting people, or are they unintentionally blocking the housing Canadians need?

In this episode, we discuss:

Regulatory Barriers: How building codes and zoning prevent the creation of family-sized apartments.

Comparisons with Europe: Why families in cities like Paris and Berlin live comfortably in apartments.

Unintended Consequences: How rules meant to improve safety or quality actually reduce housing options.

Policy and Change: What it would take to create a housing system that truly supports families.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:42 Challenges Finding Family-Sized Rental Apartments
01:54 How European Families Live in City Apartments
02:46 Why European-Style Apartment Units Are Illegal Here
03:40 North American Apartment Layouts Create Space Issues
04:15 Unintended Consequences of Prescriptive Building Codes
04:57 pop up https://youtu.be/TF63Xj_QtjM?si=YKMdLHIs8b_Nchgx
05:03 pop up https://youtu.be/WpT0YDY8ejM?si=OIIEQm-y76TZlPEB
06:05 Structural Problems in Housing Regulations
08:07 Zoning Makes Low-Rise Family Apartments Difficult
09:48 Optimism and Next Steps for Policy Change

Research/links:
Why we can’t build family-sized apartments in North America
https://www.centerforbuilding.org/article/why-we-cant-build

Why Single Stairways are Heaven for Homebuilding
https://youtu.be/WpT0YDY8ejM?si=OIIEQm-y76TZlPEB

How Elevator Rules Cost Us Homes
https://youtu.be/TF63Xj_QtjM?si=YKMdLHIs8b_Nchgx

North America's Elevator Problem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or1_qVdekYM&t=1s

Addressing the concerns around single-staircase apartments
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozwkP9Zsi0Y

Why We Don't Build More Apartments for Families | Odd Lots
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76IHpt6q9ME

Broken Zoning: Why We Can’t Fix the Housing Crisis Without a Map
https://youtu.be/yuAsjJsiuyQ?si=1DDXn4pIGUvSjmgC

Single Stair Buildings for San Francisco: The Key to Building Small Scale Infill Housing
https://openscopestudio.com/single-stair-buildings-for-san-francisco-the-key-to-building-small-scale-infill-housing/

Why Are Housing Costs So High? The Elevator Can Explain Why.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/08/opinion/elevator-construction-regulation-labor-immigration.html
Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.