Shifting roles and approaches: government coordination of post‐secondary education in Canada, 1995–2006

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.