Shifting Roles and Approaches: Government Coordination of Postsecondary Education in Canada from 1995 to 2006

This paper analyses changing approaches to system-level governance in Canadian post-secondary education from 1995-2006. A review of major policy initiatives reveals a shift in provincial and federal government roles in and approaches to the coordination of post-secondary education. The federal government has strategically invested in post-secondary education, increasing its direct and indirect support for research and development and, at the same time, retreating from other areas of support. Provincial governments have expanded post-secondary systems and increased institutional diversity and the role of the market in post-secondary education while simultaneously developing more mechanisms of coordination.