In this episode of The Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt dig into Canada’s condo market crash, the rise of “housing shrinkflation,” and what it all means for young Canadians chasing the dream of homeownership. They unpack why falling condo prices aren’t actually fixing the housing crisis, how developers and government policies have fueled the problem, and why middle-class buyers are being left behind. If you’ve been wondering whether Canada is headed for a nation of “forever renters,” this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:02 The condo market collapse: an overview

04:03   The impact of shrinkflation on housing

04:54 Ron Butler pop up

07:48 Government policies and middle-class homeownership

11:56 The future of homeownership in canada

Research/links

Sabrina’s Toronto Star column https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/the-condo-crash-wont-fix-our-housing-problem-in-fact-it-just-might-make-it/article_7c44519f-cdbe-4978-b575-ffc1ef9a76bd.html

New Condo Sales in GTA Hit 3rd-Highest Level on Record in 2019: Report

https://storeys.com/new-condo-sales-gta-2019/

Homeownership rate for City of Toronto:

https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/alternative.cfm?topic=7&lang=E&dguid=2021A00033520&objectId=7 

Toronto condo market is in ‘free fall,’ federal housing minister says

https://www.thestar.com/real-estate/toronto-condo-market-is-in-free-fall-federal-housing-minister-says/article_66c26722-1f22-4b28-bf95-3e98f2e02159.html

Ron Butler: Condo Crash Meets Housing Crisis

https://youtu.be/9xD5veEsB3U?si=-9A-N2jecO8u63N8

Hosts: 

Sabrina Maddeaux https://x.com/SabrinaMaddeaux 

Mike Moffatt https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt.bsky.social

Producer: Meredith Martin 

https://twitter.com/meredithmartin 

@meredithmartin.bsky.social

Editor: Sean Foreman

@seanegertonforeman

@seanforeman.bsky.social

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/

Brought to you by the Missing Middle Initiative https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/

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.