Ontario has started cutting development charges. But is this the breakthrough Ontario’s housing market needs, or just the first step?

In this episode of The Missing Middle Podcast, Mike Moffatt sits down with Kim Fairley, President of Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), to unpack what Ontario’s new development charge reforms mean for homebuyers, builders, and municipalities – and what still needs to happen next.

They discuss:
• Why development charges can add up to $200,000 to the cost of a new home in Ontario
• How some Ontario cities have raised DCs by 1,000%–5,000% since 2000
• Why Sault Ste. Marie has no development charges—and what other cities can learn from it
• Whether recent provincial and federal reforms will actually improve affordability
• What Ontario’s housing market could look like over the next 6–18 months

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Ontario’s new development charge deal: what changes?

03:55 Is housing finally getting more affordable?

05:14 Northern Ontario’s housing market: a different reality

07:09 Sault Ste. Marie has no development charges

08:07 Do buyers know how much development charges cost?

10:25 Why transparency on development charges matters

12:08 Lower housing costs without raising taxes?

13:35 Do Ontarians support cutting development charges?

16:07 Can politicians actually work together on housing?

17:08 What happens next for Ontario housing?

18:18 Progress made, but the hard part starts now

Research/links:

How to Lower Development Charges Without Raising Property Taxes

https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/p/how-to-lower-development-charges

A Pathway to Development Charge Reform

https://www.orea.com/advocacy/Development-Charge-Reform

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/

Why are so many young Canadians leaving and why are some people suggesting they should be punished for it?

In this episode of The Missing Middle, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux break down the growing “brain drain” from Canada to the United States and the shocking proposal that young people who leave should pay a $500,000 exit fee.

They dig into what’s really driving this trend: unaffordable housing, stagnant wages, limited career opportunities, and policy decisions that increasingly favour older, wealthier generations.

This isn’t about loyalty. It’s about survival and a country that may no longer offer young people a path to the life their parents had.

📊 Topics covered:

• The truth about Canada’s brain drain
• Why young workers are choosing the U.S.
• The economics behind the productivity gap
• Immigration policy and labour market impacts
• Housing, wages, and generational inequality
• What Canada would need to do to win young people back

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Why Young Canadians Are Leaving

02:25 Cost Of Living And The U.S. Pull Factor

03:16 The Real Cost Of Brain Drain

04:05 Canada’s Productivity Problem

05:12 Punishing Young People Instead Of Fixing Problems

05:58 How Politics Shifted Against Younger Generations

07:14 Is Brain Drain Being Overblown?

08:02 Why The Viral Brain Drain Chart Misleads

08:50 Canada’s Record Emigration Problem

09:29 Losing The Best And Brightest

10:30 Immigration, Talent, And Retention Failures

11:14 Is Canada Becoming America’s Farm Team?

12:38 How Temporary Workers Changed The Labour Market

13:55 What Policies Could Win Young Canadians Back?

14:12 Housing As The Core Issue

15:17 Taxes, Transfers, And Generational Inequality

15:46 Canada’s Value Proposition Problem

16:16 Closing Thoughts And Listener Questions

Research:

Sabrina's National Post column: Fix the brain drain by fixing Canada, not with a $500K exit tax | National Post

Statistics Canada — Recent trends in migration flows from Canada to the United States: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2025007/article/00006-eng.htm

The Hub — “Can anyone solve Canada’s brain drain problem?”: https://thehub.ca/2026/04/03/can-anyone-solve-canadas-brain-drain-problem/

HRD: Canada's talent exodus: What senior HR leaders can't afford to ignore | Human Resources Director

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/

Why does it feel like young Canadians can’t get ahead anymore?

In this episode, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt break down the growing generational divide in Canada, and why Millennials and Gen Z are being squeezed from both sides. From skyrocketing housing costs to rising taxes and massive government spending on programs like Old Age Security (OAS), the financial pressure on younger Canadians has never been higher.

We explore how Canada’s aging population is reshaping the economy, why healthcare and retirement spending now dominate government budgets, and how policy decisions around housing have made affordability worse. With fewer workers supporting more retirees, and homeownership increasingly out of reach, this episode uncovers the systemic forces driving a massive wealth transfer from young to old.

Is this sustainable? Why hasn’t policy changed? And what can younger generations actually do about it?

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction: The Hidden Wealth Transfer From Young to Old

00:18 Canada’s Aging Population and the Fiscal Squeeze

01:32 Why Fewer Workers Are Supporting More Retirees

01:54 How OAS Became Canada’s Biggest Federal Expense

03:04 The Truth About Who Paid for Old Age Security

04:14 Young Canadians Are Being Squeezed From Both Sides

04:59 How Housing Policy Made Homes More Expensive

06:29 Did Boomers Intentionally Build This System?

08:23 The Unintended Consequences of Housing Restrictions

09:13 Why Millennials and Gen Z Feel Locked Out

10:20 How Government Spending Shifted Toward Seniors

11:42 Why Younger Generations Struggle to Organize Politically

12:49 Would Lower Home Prices Crash Canada’s Economy?

13:34 Why Cheaper Housing Would Make Canada Wealthier

13:52 Why Young Canadians Need Political Power

15:00 Final Thoughts and Outro

Research/links:

An Oligarchy of Old People

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/gerontocracy-wealth-power/686585/

Are Boomers Bankrupting the Future?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbM3_BPDJ5Y

2026 Ontario Budget

https://budget.ontario.ca/2026/pdf/2026-ontario-budget-en.pdf

Page 196

Annual Financial Report of the Government of Canada 2024-25

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/fin/publications/afr-rfa/2025/afr-rfa-2024-25-eng.pdf

Pg 15

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

Funded by the Neptis Foundation https://neptis.org/