As Canada’s federal election heats up, party leaders continue to court the “middle class” with promises of tax cuts and relief. But for many younger Canadians, the term has lost its traditional meaning. While politicians invoke the middle class as the backbone of the country, the reality is that homeownership, stable employment, and financial security—long considered hallmarks of this group—are increasingly out of reach for a new generation navigating soaring costs and stagnant wages.
According to the OECD, the middle class is defined as households earning between 75% and 200% of the median income—roughly $52,875 to $141,000 in Canada. Yet for 35-year-old nursing student Opeyemi Kehinde, whose family earns below $40,000 annually, those numbers feel irrelevant. Despite working part-time while raising five children and attending school, Kehinde says they live paycheque to paycheque, barely scraping by in a rented three-bedroom apartment in Cornwall, Ontario. Her version of middle class means surviving two weeks without income—a standard her family simply can’t meet.
Experts say the concept of “middle class” has become increasingly blurry. A 2023 study found that while most Canadians still identify with the term, the criteria for that status have shifted. University of Alberta sociologist Michelle Maroto says younger Canadians have different expectations, often shaped by financial instability post-COVID and the unaffordability of key milestones like owning a home or taking vacations. She argues that without progressive taxation and greater investment in public services, the dream of achieving middle-class stability may vanish for an entire generation.
For many, the problem lies in intergenerational inequality. Paul Kershaw, founder of Generation Squeeze, points out that today’s younger Canadians are shouldering higher rent and longer waits for homeownership—if they can ever afford it at all—to maintain the housing wealth of older generations. A young professional making six figures in cities like Victoria may still be priced out of even a modest home, while retirees who bought property decades ago have seen their net worth balloon through no extra effort. Kershaw says policies have quietly protected the wealth of older homeowners at the expense of younger workers, turning them into economic “shields” who subsidize past prosperity.
Despite both Liberals and Conservatives offering tax relief and housing incentives, critics argue the measures fall short. Neither party has addressed the underlying issue: a housing market where wealth grows faster through property appreciation than through hard work. Kershaw suggests that instead of blanket tax cuts, the government should target financial relief toward younger Canadians, who are being disproportionately impacted by rising costs and shrinking opportunities. Without such changes, political appeals to the middle class may increasingly ring hollow to the very generation they claim to support.
Originally published on Weekly Voice