Capacity for Change:
Designing a Public Service
Built to Deliver
About the Capacity for Change Project
Canada wants to do big things fast. The question is whether our public institutions are capable of delivering.
What is state capacity?
State capacity is essentially the government’s ability to get things done. It’s the “how” of government — the back kitchen that ensures policies and services are delivered. This ranges from administering employment insurance, pension plans and tax credits to delivering Indigenous healthcare, conducting environmental assessments, and implementing economic and public health policies.
What we’re doing
Our research project investigates the barriers to state capacity and will culminate in research-backed recommendations from leading experts aimed at improving federal government operations. The capacity of the public service will shape Canada’s ability to respond to and withstand today’s geopolitical, technological and climate-related pressures.
Why it matters
Largely hidden from public view, state capacity directly influences the government’s ability to deliver on its commitments.
Canada’s federal public service and its processes have come under scrutiny for not being able to efficiently execute government priorities, anticipate and adapt to challenges, and deliver services to citizens — making questions of state capacity increasingly urgent at a time of geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption and declining public trust.
As the current Liberal government aims to “build big and build fast,” the public service faces growing pressure to deliver ambitious projects quickly in a world where problems are complex and change by the day. How can the public service adapt to meet the moment and deliver effective solutions at speed?
Areas of focus:
- Modernizing data management
- Improving service delivery to Indigenous communities
- Addressing human resources obstacles
- Building the government’s digital capacity
- Strengthening policy capacity
- Modernizing technology procurement
- Increasing performance and productivity within the public service
- And more
Featured Publication
Why Government Efficiency Doesn’t Necessarily Drive Public Trust
Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated a desire for change in the federal public service to deliver on the Liberal government’s Make Canada Strong agenda. He hopes to realign the country’s economic and political relations to respond to new global and North American realities. The question is whether the public service has the capacity to effectively and efficiently execute such an ambitious agenda. Given widespread concerns about declining public trust in government, it is important to assess public service reforms by whether they increase trust in public institutions. […]
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Memos
Shared Governance, Stronger Outcomes: Developing State Capacity in First Nations-Federal Relations
Gina Wilson
From Fragmented Data to Faster Decisions: Building a Sovereign Impact Assessment Agent
Annette Hester
Podcast episodes
What Governments Get Wrong About Implementation
With Mike Davis
“We Have the Resources the World Wants”: Susan Holt on New Brunswick’s Economic Future
With Susan Holt
Project team
Jennifer Ditchburn
President and Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Research on Public Policy
Jennifer Robson
Visiting Scholar and Associate Professor of Political Management, Carleton University
Maya Lach-Aidelbaum
Research Associate
Related research
A Model Evaluation Framework for Industrial Policy in Canada
Douglas Nevison
Resilient Institutions: Learning from Canada’s COVID-19 Pandemic
Charles Breton, Ji Yoon Han, David McLaughlin and Caroline Woodward
from The Centre
Op-eds
New federal agencies won’t fix old problems with delivery
by Kevin G. Lynch, Jim Mitchell – June 26, 2026
Canadians not confident public service is prepared for the future
by Jennifer Ditchburn – June 17, 2026
The Carney government’s policy pivot amid global turmoil requires reshaping how government works
by Kevin G. Lynch, Jim Mitchell – April 17, 2026
From Trudeau’s sprawl to Carney’s focus: the evolution of mandate letters
by Allen Sutherland – October 1, 2025
Carney’s 15-per-cent challenge: Cutting and rewiring Canada’s public service
by Kathryn May – August 11, 2025
Former top bureaucrat Jocelyne Bourgon calls for bold public service reform to match Carney’s economic plan
by Kathryn May – May 14, 2025
Does size really matter? Rethinking public service reform
by Hunaifa Malik, Daniel Béland, Jennifer Robson – April 2, 2025
Former top bureaucrat calls for major overhaul of the federal government
by Kathryn May – January 17, 2025
The machinery of government, explained. Track what’s happening across the federal public service and why it matters.
Related events
What is “mission-driven” government, and can it work here?
Webinar
July 15, 2025
Funders
This project was made possible in part thanks to support from the Max Bell Foundation and the Metcalf Foundation. The IRPP is an independent think tank, and retains control over the scope, methodology, conclusions and recommendations of our work.
