The Road Ahead: Fiscal Federalism in Canada and the Challenges of Multi-Level Governance, Population Aging and Universal Education Financing

Canada, Covid, Federalism, Fiscal Federalism, Forum

Special Series: Fiscal Federalism in Canada – Author: Pauliana Borgella – The cohesion of collective action remains a constant quest for any government concerned with results. This search for cohesion is an essential lever of public management and is increasingly important in a federation such as Canada, where public powers are shared between the federal government, the provinces and territories and the municipalities. It is visible in the institutional arrangements linking the different tiers of Canadian public governance, of which fiscal federalism is an essential element.

Provincial and Regional Perspectives on Fiscal Federalism in Canada

Canada, Covid, Federalism, Fiscal Federalism, Forum

Special Series: Fiscal Federalism in Canada – Author: Jackson Reggie – According to former senior federal public servant and academic Matthew Mendelsohn, equalization and other fiscal transfers are the “primary way we ensure that many of the social benefits of Canadian citizenship are enjoyed by residents of all regions, including those that are less prosperous” (2013, p. 7). Payments from the federal government distributes revenue collected from “have provinces” to “have not provinces” to support the provision of public services at “reasonably comparable” levels between provinces (Flanagan, 2021; Dahlby, 2014).

Do Past Compromises Ensure Future Ones? Fiscal Federalism in Canada Under Challenge

Canada, Covid, Equalization, Federalism, Fiscal Federalism, Forum

Special Series: Fiscal Federalism in Canada – Author: Julien Doris – Since the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government has had to resort largely to its spending power to support the provinces and territories. In opening the first panel of the Conference on Fiscal Federalism, Gilbert Charland, Quebec’s Deputy Minister for Canadian Relations, highlighted two central issues for the future: the anticipated imbalance in health care spending (Conseil de la Fédération, 2021) and the updating of equalization parameters (The Globe and Mail, 2021). While discussing the constitutional elements and historical advancements of fiscal federalism, the following sections will also highlight some short- and longer-term economic issues.

Enduring and Contemporary Challenges to Fiscal Federalism in Canada

Canada, Climate Change, Covid, Federalism, Fiscal Federalism, Forum

Special Series: Fiscal Federalism in Canada – Author: Éric Desrochers – Opening session: Wednesday, April 21 (1:00 pm to 2:30 pm ET)
The opening session of the “Fiscal federalism in Canada” virtual conference was a panel of scholars and practitioners of fiscal federalism, featuring Louis Lévesque, Richard Bird, and Jim Dinning as panellists, and Madeleine Drohan as moderator. The panel centred on current issues in Canadian fiscal federalism and their interactions with the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as an introduction to two full days of discussions about fiscal federalism.

Digitalization in Federal Governments: Impacts on Service Delivery

Covid, Decentralization, digitalization, Federalism, Fiscal Federalism, Pandemic, Service Delivery

Author: Soumaya Marhnouj – In the age of digital technology, it has become the norm to rely more upon online applications for access to public services and programs as internet connectivity has proliferated. In Canada, 98% of households have access to fixed broadband internet access, and more than 87% have a home Internet subscription. Furthermore, over 88% of the population have a smartphone and 45% of them check their smartphone every 30 minutes. Not only are people more interconnected than ever, but technology is increasingly relied upon in a manner that would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago. We see this technological shift in almost every aspect of life; government actors, government services, and public information should be no exception. Federal and unitary governments worldwide are embracing – and being expected to embrace – technology in the exercise of their functions. Central and subnational governments can use these technologies to fulfill primary goals in service provision, including “improving efficiency and service quality by reducing service lead times, increasing transparency, and offering seamless service provision across organizations.” This practice is known as digital government.