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.

This volume provides a multidisciplinary examination of fiscal federalism in Canada and points to ways in which it can be improved.

“This will stand as the landmark text in Canadian fiscal federalism, both for its comprehensive scope and for its interdisciplinary ambitions. And yet, it is lively! The contributors succeed in capturing the technical complexity of funding formulas without getting lost in them, because their gaze is always fixed on the wider policy and political choices and consequences.”“This is a gem of a book on a topic that has preoccupied political decision-makers in Canada since the federation’s birth in 1867. Beyond dealing with the big three transfers – equalization, the Canada Health Transfer, and the Canada Social Transfer – the authors searchingly address under-researched areas including federal transfers to First Nations, infrastructure spending, early learning and childcare, and municipalities. Both scholars and decision-makers will benefit immensely from this comprehensive book.”“Canadian federalism is complex and messy. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how important fiscal federalism is for solving major policy problems, like health care or long-term care. The editors have brought together an impressive array of authors from different disciplines who have intimate knowledge of how fiscal federalism works at the national, regional, and local levels. This book is for anyone who wants to understand the issues, tensions, and choices in fiscal federalism. Highly recommended.”

1. Introduction: Fiscal Federalism under the Microscope 
André Lecours, Daniel Béland, Trevor Tombe, and Eric Champagne

2. The Struggle for Equity That Saved the Federation
Mary Janigan

3. Fiscal Federalism and the Federal Spending Power: A Legal and Constitutional Analysis
Peter Oliver

4. The Challenges and Opportunities Facing Canada’s Fiscal Arrangements after COVID-19
Trevor Tombe

5. The Canada Health Transfer: Past, Present, and Future
Robin Boadway

6. Ceremonial Fiscal Federalism: Social Assistance and the Canada Social Transfer
Michael J. Prince

7. Living on Equalization Payments: How Hard Is It for Receiving Provinces to Anticipate Future Equalization Revenues?
Marcelin Joanis

8. Canadian Fiscal Federalism and the Provinces’ Natural Resource Revenues
James Feehan

9. Fiscal Federalism, Governance, and Provincial Debt
Kyle Hanniman

10. Fiscal Federalism in Canada’s North: Understanding Territorial Formula Financing
Christopher Yurris, Daniel Béland, and Trevor Tombe

11. Leading the Way: First Nations in Canadian Fiscal Federalism
Donn. L. Feir and David Scoones

12. Long-Term Care Reform in Canada in the Wake of COVID-19: The Poverty of the National Standards Solution
Anthony Breton and Patrik Marier

13. Cities in Canadian Fiscal Federalism: The Forgotten Partner
Enid Slack

14. Coming Full Circle: Federalism and Responsibility for Housing
Steve Pomeroy

15. Public Infrastructure Financing and Multilevel Governance in Canada
Eric Champagne and Aracelly Denise Granja

16. Financing Education in Canada
Jennifer Wallner

17. Child-Care in a Decentralized Federation: Who Pays?
Jennifer Robson

18. Diversity in Adversity: Fiscal Federalism, the Four Atlantic Provinces, and Canada’s Great Demographic Imbalance
Richard Saillant

19. Quebec’s Fiscal Federalism Trilemma
Alain Noël

20. Fiscal Fortunes: An Ontario Perspective on Federal-Provincial Transfers
Tracy Snoddon

21. Canadian Fiscal Federalism and Alberta’s Latest Attempt to Get a Fair(er) Deal
Ken Boessenkool

22. Canadian Fiscal Federalism in Comparative Perspective 
Alan Fenna

23. Conclusion
André Lecours, Daniel Béland, Trevor Tombe, and Eric Champagne