Fiscal Federalism in Canada: Analysis, Evaluation, Prescription

Featuring insights from some of the top specialists in the country, Fiscal Federalism in Canada unpacks numerous complexities of fiscal federalism in Canada. The book features key regional and provincial perspectives, while taking into account Indigenous realities, the three territories, and municipal affairs. The contributing authors go beyond the major federal transfers to examine the financing of education, cities, infrastructure, and housing.

This volume shows that fiscal federalism is much more than simply an aggregate of individual programs and transfers. It highlights the role of actors other than the federal and provincial governments and recalls the importance of territoriality. The book pays close attention to the political dimension of fiscal federalism in Canada, which is at the heart of how the federation functions and is essential to its governance. Fiscal federalism is central to the funding of critical programs through intergovernmental transfers, but it is also the focus of political debates on territorial redistribution. In tackling essential questions, Fiscal Federalism in Canada contributes to the so-called second-generation fiscal federalism literature, taking stock of the critical sociological and political issues at its core.

André Lecours is a professor of political studies at the University of Ottawa.
Daniel Béland is Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University.
Trevor Tombe is a professor of economics and a research fellow at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.
Eric Champagne is an associate professor of public administration at the School of Political Studies and the Director of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa.