Sam Van Uden, 21, runs the seeder on a prairie farm in southern Alberta. It's good hours, but the paycheque doesn't stretch the way it did for young adults who used to start this way.

That's what he wants this federal election campaign to focus on, and he's not alone. 

"Talking to my parents, the money that I'm making now would have done them really well 15 or 20 years ago. But now it's nothing," he said.

"Grocery prices are through the roof, gas prices, vehicle prices…. The new middle class isn't…