If inflation is only around 2–3%, why does everything feel so much more expensive?

In this episode, we break down how inflation is actually measured, and why your personal experience can feel completely disconnected from the official numbers. From grocery bills and gas prices to rent and mortgages, not all price increases hit the same way—and some matter a lot more than others.

We also dig into the hidden forces shaping your cost of living: shrinkflation, quality drops (“chocolatey” vs. chocolate), and the limits of how agencies like Statistics Canada track price changes. The result? A single inflation number that masks wildly different realities depending on how you live, spend, and earn.

In other words: there isn’t one inflation rate. There are millions.

Chapters

00:00 Intro: Why We Underestimate Inflation

00:28 Official Stats vs. Public Perception

01:20 Breaking Down the "Spending Basket"

02:07 Why Every Family Experiences Inflation Differently

03:33 Why Reading & Media Prices are Dropping

04:04 Biggest Price Jumps & Surprises

05:56 The Reality of Shrinkflation at the Grocery Store

06:46 The Kraft Dinner Test: Smaller Sizes, Same Price

07:43 Cutting Ingredients: Chocolate vs. "Chocolaty"

09:03 Housing & Shelter Inflation

11:46 Boomers vs. Gen Z: Who Wins in High Interest Rates?

12:55 Final Thoughts: One Economy, Multiple Realities

Research Links:

Consumer Price Index and Inflation Perceptions in Canada: Can measurement approaches or behavioural factors explain the gap?

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/62f0014m/62f0014m2021017-eng.htm

Shrinking products, rising prices: Food-specific quantity adjustments in the Consumer Price Index

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2025016-eng.htm

Greedy bastards. This just happened in the past few weeks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1s116uj/greedy_bastards_this_just_happened_in_the_past/

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.

In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern sits down with YouTuber Paige Saunders to discuss the one structural glitch that is sabotaging Canada’s economy, healthcare, and housing market: our electoral system.

While most democracies have moved on to Proportional Representation, Canada remains stuck with a model that empowers swing ridings and ignores millions of voters. Paige explains why this monopoly on power prevents real innovation and how a simple change in how we vote could lead to a 20% performance increase across the board.

In this video:

• How our voting system benefits wealthy people
• Which voting system would a villain choose?
• Why Ranked Choice is a trap for multi-party democracies.
• The path forward: Why we need a binding Citizens' Assembly.

Check out Paige Saunders' channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PaigeMTL

Chapters:

00:37 Intro: The hidden force behind Canada’s biggest problems

01:12 What’s broken about Canada’s voting system

01:48 How swing ridings control the country

04:03 Why politicians ignore entire groups of voters

05:26 Does proportional representation hurt suburbs?

06:59 Populism, power, and lack of accountability

08:59 Why this won’t magically fix housing

10:17 Why politicians refuse to change the system

11:11 Why most Canadians don’t even notice the problem

12:58 Is Canada heading down the US/UK path?

15:13 Why electoral reform keeps failing

19:40 The real barrier to change

24:24 The AI test: which system is worst?

29:12 “I was shocked Canada still uses this”

32:28 Is Canada falling behind on democracy?

36:03 Can anything actually force reform?

40:00 What a better system could look like

42:45 Final thoughts: a more Canadian democracy

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.

You built equity, planned ahead, and did everything right, so why is the next step on the housing ladder completely out of reach?

Canada’s housing crisis is usually framed around first-time buyers struggling to get into the market. But a growing number of Canadians already made that leap and are now stuck. Couples who bought small condos with the expectation of eventually upgrading are discovering that the path forward has quietly disappeared.

In this episode, Mike Moffatt and Sabrina Maddeaux unpack the rise of the “trapped” second-time homebuyer; households in their late 20s to early 40s who did everything right, built equity, and planned ahead, only to find that larger, family-sized homes are further out of reach than ever. With prices outpacing incomes, policy focused on first-time buyers, and a shortage of suitable homes, the traditional housing ladder no longer works.

What happens when an entire generation can’t move up, even after getting in? And what does it mean for family formation, economic mobility, and the future of Canada’s housing system?

Chapters:

00:00 The "Broken Ladder": Canada’s Second-Time Homebuyer Crisis

00:58 Trapped in the Starter Home:The Condo Squeeze

03:01 The Over-Focus on Shoebox Condos vs. Family Homes

04:13 How the Housing Dream Changed

05:44 Is the “Condo-to-Detached” Model a Ponzi Scheme?

06:39 The “Goldilocks” Scenario for Sustainable Housing Gains

08:16 Polling Data: What Ontarians Actually Care About

10:17 The Case for Extending HST Rebates Beyond First-Time Buyers

11:11 Policy Dorks vs. The Public: Finding Common Ground

14:00 Property Taxes: The "Political Third Rail"

15:45 Should Housing Rules Be Handled by the Province?

16:35 Why Down Payment Support Might Be Hurting More Than Helping

18:43 Renters’ Rights & The Future of Canadian Housing

Research Links:

New OREA survey finds Ontarians support change and transparency in housing costs and policies

Housing in Ontario: Perceptions, Impacts, And Solutions

Unlocking Homeownership: What Canadians Want from Housing Policy

A Blueprint to Restore Homeownership for Young Canadians

Is Ontario Ready to Spend $895M to Jumpstart Homebuilding?

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.