Why Young People Can't Find Jobs Anymore

When a business faces a labour shortage, the free market says they should raise wages. So why is Canada’s government stepping in to make labour cheaper instead? In this episode of The Missing Middle, Cara Stern and Mike Moffatt dive into how Canada's low-wage Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program and the explosion of international student work caps have completely disrupted the laws of supply and demand. As Canadian youth face historic unemployment rates, we break down how corporate lobbying and government policy created a cheat code that insulates businesses from capitalism, while pushing young workers off the first rung of the career ladder. From the housing crisis in Alberta's mountain tourist towns to Tim Hortons' recent PR scramble, we expose the loop of corporate reliance on exploitable temporary labor and ask: how do we let the market actually fix itself? Topics covered: Canada's rising youth unemployment rate The Temporary Foreign Worker Program explained How international student work rules affect the job market Why labour shortages don't always mean there aren't enough workers Seasonal jobs, tourism, and staff housing The economics of wages, supply, and demand Tim Hortons and the TFW controversy Policy solutions to improve opportunities for young Canadians #Canada #YouthUnemployment #TemporaryForeignWorkers #Jobs #CanadianEconomy #LabourMarket #Economics #Immigration #PublicPolicy #MissingMiddle Chapters: 00:00 - The Free Market Myth in Canada 01:24 - Gen Z vs. Gen X: The Youth Unemployment Crisis 02:12 - Why Student Jobs Suddenly Vanished 03:32 - How the TFW Program Ballooned Over 50 Years 05:39 - The Corporate Lobbying Flipping Immigration Rules 07:11 - Debunking the Alberta "Labour Shortage" 09:47 - Why Canada Insulates Businesses From Capitalism 11:11 - What "Dirty Dancing" Teaches Us About Seasonal Housing 14:06 - The Dark Side of Temporary Work Regulations 16:02 - Exposing Tim Hortons' "Local Hiring" PR Spin 18:57 - How to Break the TFW Doom Loop Research/links: Tourist towns ‘desperate’ for workers in Alberta https://www.cp24.com/news/2026/03/28/... Tim Hortons says it will hire locals, scale back temporary foreign workers https://globalnews.ca/news/11863474/t... Tim Hortons is Committed to Local Hiring Launching National Campaign to Hire 10,000 Local Team Members https://www.news.timhortons.ca/en/art... Youth unemployment in Canada jumped 57% in 3 years, hitting levels previously unseen outside a recession https://thehub.ca/2026/05/07/canadas-... Youth unemployment in Canada near record highs since 2022; unprecedented levels outside of a recession https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studi... https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites... Temporary ForeignWorkers in Canada:Are They Really Filling Labour Shortages? https://cdhowe.org/wp-content/uploads... StatsCan: Drayton Valley statistical area sees lowest unemployment in Alberta at 4.9 per cent https://www.bigwestcountry.ca/2026/06... Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Programs - The Canadian Encyclopedia https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en... Businesses face new limits on temporary foreign worker program https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tfw-... 3 problems with the temporary foreign worker program and 3 possible fixes, according to experts https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar... Credits: Mike Moffatt   / mikepmoffatt   https://bsky.app/profile/mikepmoffatt... Cara Stern https://x.com/carastern https://bsky.app/profile/carastern.bs... Meredith Martin   / meredithmartin   https://bsky.app/profile/meredithmart... Sean Foreman @seanegertonforeman https://bsky.app/profile/seanforeman.... Co-op Student Kelly Hoban Brought to you by the Missing Middle Initiative https://www.missingmiddleinitiative.ca/