Directions for Regional Economic Policy in the UK: Lessons from Canada

This paper looks at the regional economic and political structure of the UK and Canada, and how these have evolved over time. We look at the regional distribution of industries in both countries, noting both differences and similarities across the two countries, and look at each country’s experience with regional economic development policy and political decentralization over the last fifty years or so. We outline the current structure of economic development programming in Canada, at both the federal and provincial level, as well as programmes by the federal government that target specific sectors. We then look at the outcomes of regional economic development in Canada, which we find to be mixed at best. Finally, we draw out lessons for UK policymakers from the Canadian experience. These include the perceived need for an enduring central government role in regional development, however much political devolution takes place, the importance of political representation for economic development institutions, the tendency to uniformity despite political decentralization, and the existence of some innovative Canadian economic development programmes that bear watching.