The Missing Middle Podcast Canada’s Demographic Time Bomb: What Boom, Bust & Echo Got Right
Jan 30, 2026
A revisit of a 1996 book that seemed to foresee Canada’s housing, labor, and policy troubles. They explore how aging baby boomers reshaped the housing market and created demand for home health care. The conversation links immigration choices, taxation debates, and seniors housing to today’s generational imbalances. Short takes on where predictions hit and where they missed.
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Boomer Life Cycle Drives Economic Change
- The boomer life cycle explains large parts of Canada's economic shifts over decades.
- Recognizing demographic waves helps predict demand for services and policy pressures.
Home Health Care Was Predictable Demand
- Aging boomers would increase demand for home health care and personal service workers.
- Policies needed long-term planning to match workforce, wages, and service capacity to that demand.
Make PSW Jobs Viable
- Do improve pay and working conditions for PSWs to make the sector sustainable.
- Avoid relying solely on immigration to fill low-pay personal support roles without addressing job quality.
