The Missing Middle Podcast

Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates and a leading Canadian higher-education policy analyst, investigates Ontario’s alleged billion-dollar OSAP fraud scandal. They examine private career colleges, government inaction, disrupted student aid, and the paper trail emerging through lawsuits and records. The conversation also explores credential inflation, whether degrees still pay off, shorter programs, and Gen Z’s tougher path to financial security.

Why does a simple night out now cost a fortune? The conversation explores “funflation,” soaring rents, stagnant wages, and concert prices that push young Canadians toward rare splurges instead of regular socializing. As bowling alleys, music venues, dinner parties, and other affordable gathering spots disappear, the rise of solo living may be creating an economy of isolation.

Ontario mayoral housing platforms face a reality check. The discussion explores senior property-tax deferrals, Toronto’s land-transfer tax, Windsor’s fourplex controversy, and reforms in Oshawa and Guelph. It also examines approval delays, development charges, student housing, arterial-road density, and the urgent need for family-sized and starter homes.

Why do Canada’s wealthiest demographic keep receiving bigger benefits? This conversation unpacks how Old Age Security is funded, why senior-focused tax breaks outpace support for young families, and how political incentives shape these promises. It also explores the economic cost of shifting money toward retirees, mounting public debt, and ways to better target assistance to those who need it most.

Could brand-new cities solve Canada’s housing crisis? This discussion explores how places like Milton, Brampton, Surrey, and Kitchener grew organically, why Canada’s geography limits new metropolitan hubs, and what went wrong with planned experiments such as Townsend and Monarto. It also examines why tax breaks, infrastructure, and relocation alone can’t manufacture the economic and social networks that make cities thrive.

Eric Lombardi, a Canadian engineer, housing advocate, and former Ontario Liberal leadership candidate, reflects on his outsider campaign. He discusses traveling across Ontario, the barriers facing young contenders, policy depth versus political sound bites, and social media’s power to build authenticity and conflict. He also explores party rules, pragmatic liberalism, and what it takes to challenge Doug Ford.

Housing unaffordability is reshaping how young people view politics, parties, and democracy worldwide. The discussion examines the widening generational divide, declining support for political centrism, anti-incumbency, and a new class divide shaped by inherited wealth and homeownership prospects. It also explores youth disengagement, alternative forms of activism, and whether the dream of owning a home is fading.

Carolyn Rogers, Canadian economist and Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, explores Canada’s housing affordability dilemma. She discusses the tension between housing investment and business productivity, better financing for small businesses, and the limits of interest rates as a housing solution. The conversation also examines CPI trade-offs, mortgage stress tests, inflation stability, and the policy conflicts shaping Canada’s economy.

Canada’s Employment Insurance system was designed for stable, full-time careers, leaving young professionals, urban renters, and gig workers struggling to qualify. The discussion examines regional thresholds, disappearing contributions, short benefit periods, and maximum payments that barely cover Toronto rent. It also explores national eligibility rules, gig-worker reforms, and why temporary fixes keep missing those most in need.

Egg freezing promises more time, but how much? The discussion explores delayed family milestones, rising housing costs, student debt, workplace pressure, and the emotional and physical demands of fertility treatment. It also examines misleading marketing, real-world success rates, steep costs, aging eggs, clinic transparency, and whether technology can truly compensate for economic barriers to starting a family.