Post-secondary Policy Innovation in Canada: Provincial Policy Adoptions, 1990–2015

Abstract

Drawing upon ideas of policy diffusion, transfer, and convergence, this exploratory study uses panel data to explore patterns of post-secondary policy adoptions in Canadian provinces, and identifies opportunities for further understanding explanatory factors associated with policy diffusion. The study examines the period from 1990–2015, focussing on episodes of tuition policy change, changes in governmental coordination approaches, changes to institutional mandates, institutional mergers, creation of new institutions, institutional splits (where the parts become autonomous institutions), establishment or changes to undergraduate degree authorization, and establishment of quality assurance bodies. Results included observations of policy convergence, horizontal diffusion, and raised questions regarding vertical diffusion, negative cases, and the role of partisanship and political orientation.