What if companies could figure out the exact maximum you’re willing to pay, and charge you exactly that?

That’s the promise of surveillance pricing: using your personal data, purchase history, location, online behavior, and even financial information to tailor prices specifically to you.

In this episode, Cara Stern talks with Vass Bednar, managing director of the Canadian Shield Institute and author of The Big Fix, about why this issue is suddenly on the political agenda in Canada, and what it means for consumers.

They discuss:
What surveillance pricing is, and how it differs from ordinary dynamic pricing
How companies use your data to predict your “willingness to pay”
Why two people could see different prices for the exact same product
The real-world examples already happening with apps, airlines, and delivery platforms

Why 83% of Canadians say this practice should be banned or regulated
What governments can actually do to stop it

Chapters:


Research/links:

Everything Costs More Because the Algorithm Says So | The Walrus
https://thewalrus.ca/everything-costs-more-because-the-algorithm-says-so/
How Corporate Consolidation is Ruining Everything: Discussion with Denise Hearn and Vass Bednar
https://youtu.be/Uz5DkpZPH2k?si=M_c-2GX4dS7wKF9l

Canadians Are Skeptical of Algorithmic Pricing - Abacus Data
https://abacusdata.ca/canadians-are-deeply-skeptical-of-algorithmic-pricing-and-want-governments-to-intervene/

AI-Driven Pricing May Be the Next Shock to Canadian Grocery Shoppers
https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2025/12/ai-driven-pricing-may-be-the-next-shock-to-canadian-grocery-shoppers/

Algorithms are raising prices for everything. This must stop - The Globe and Mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-algorithms-are-raising-prices-for-everything-this-must-stop/

Avi Lewis is smart to shed light on surveillance pricing | Canada's National Observer: Climate News
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2026/04/24/news/avi-lewis-ndp-surveillance-pricing

Algorithmic pricing: Poll finds half of Canadians against
https://www.cp24.com/news/canada/2026/03/18/most-canadians-want-to-ban-or-regulate-algorithmic-pricing-poll-shows/?lid=8z3lanxo654a

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

Canada is launching a new sovereign wealth fund, but what exactly is it, and why is Prime Minister Mark Carney betting big on it?

In this episode of Classonomics, Mike Moffatt and Meredith Martin break down the proposed Canada Strong Fund, how sovereign wealth funds work, and why comparisons to Norway’s famous $2 trillion oil fund may not tell the full story. They explore whether debt-financed infrastructure investing can actually grow the economy, why critics are calling it a “sovereign debt fund,” and what this could mean for housing, ports, transit, energy infrastructure, and future generations of Canadians.

Topics covered:
• What sovereign wealth funds actually are
• How Norway built its trillion-dollar oil fund
• Why Canada is creating the Canada Strong Fund
• The debate over debt-financed infrastructure
• How infrastructure investment affects housing and economic growth
• The risks, criticisms, and unanswered questions surrounding the fund

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Sovereign Wealth Funds

00:41 What is a Sovereign Wealth Fund?

01:29 Norway’s Two Sovereign Wealth Funds Explained

03:19 Why Norway Created a Second Fund

05:13 How Canada’s Fund Differs From Norway’s

06:28 Criticism Over Debt Financing

08:22 Will the Fund Benefit Future Generations?

09:58 Why the Announcement Confused Canadians

12:03 Final Thoughts And Outro

Research/links:

The Canada Strong Fund: Nation-Building or State Venture Capitalism?

https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/canada-strong-fund-nation-building-or-state-venture-capitalism

What Canada can learn from Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund

https://www.mjemcgill.com/articles/what-canada-can-learn-from-norways-sovereign-wealth-fund

Our pension funds must be sovereign wealth funds, too – even if pensioners take a hit

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-our-pension-funds-must-be-sovereign-wealth-funds-too-even-if/

Canada's spring budget projects economy to grow and deficit to fall

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz0278zyznjo

Neither Norway nor Singapore: Decoding Canada’s new sovereign wealth fund

https://globalnews.ca/news/11825911/norway-singapore-canada-sovereign-wealth-fund/

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

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

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/