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Canada’s middle-class is mortgaging its future to stay afloat, making the Canadian dream “a myth more than a reality.”

That’s the blunt assessment of an internal Conservative government report, an unvarnished account of the plight of middle-income families that’s in contrast to the rosier economic picture in this month’s budget.

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The document was prepared last October by experts in Employment and Social Development Canada, the department that runs the employment insurance fund and other income-support programs. The Canadian Press obtained the report under the Access to Information Act.

“The wages of middle income workers have stagnated,” it says, referring to the period from 1993 to 2007.

“Middle-income families are increasingly vulnerable to financial shocks.”

Middle-income families are increasingly vulnerable

The document, drawing on three years of “internal research,” was prepared for the department’s deputy minister, Ian Shugart, shortly before the resumption of Parliament last fall.