In this episode of the Missing Middle, hosts Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt break down his latest “home score” report, grading every Canadian province on housing. Atlantic provinces like New Brunswick and P.E.I. lead the way, while Ontario struggles, with high costs forcing young people to stay home longer and many residents moving away. The grades are based on 36 indicators covering supply, affordability, suitability, and societal outcomes.
Mike also explores housing policies that help, harm, or have little impact, from inclusionary zoning to development charges. The episode highlights how some reforms succeed, others fail, and why provinces can learn from each other. Tune in to see which policies actually work and what it will take to improve housing across Canada.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to the Provincial HOMES Report Card
00:45 The best and worst provinces at housing performance
02:20 36 assessment points
03:39 The report methodology
05:17 Avoiding harmful and irrelevant policies
06:24 Provinces that have irrelevant policies perform worse
09:40 Inclusionary zoning
12:30 Examining the number of adult children living at home
13:56 Ways in which Ontario sucks at housing
15:20 Political will(not to build housing in Ontario)
17:58 The levels of government can learn from each other
19:03 We were hoping BC would have better results
19:28 Atlantic Canada doesn’t get in it’s own way
21:51 How can the provinces improve?
Research/links:
2025 Provincial HOMES Report Card
https://open.substack.com/pub/missingmiddleinitiative/p/2025-provincial-homes-report-card?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
Modeling Inclusionary Zoning’s Impact on Housing Production in Los Angeles: Tradeoffs and Policy Implications
Inclusionary-Zoning-Paper-April-2024-Final.pdf
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.
