The Nature of Regional Policy Work in Canada's Public Service

This paper compares rank-and-file policy-based Canadian federal government employees both in the National Capital Region and in the regions. Data was collected from an online survey, the results find a number of significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographics, tasks, and attitudes. We conclude that regional oriented policy tasks are carried out by a relatively few number of people and this group is, at best, on the margins of what could be considered to policy work. These differences may have a significant impact on the federal government’s overall policy capacity.