The Changing Role of Consultants in Canadian Policy Analysis

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the Canadian government's trend toward outsourcing policy analytical and advisory services over the 1980s and 1990s. We test three (not mutually exclusive) hypotheses about why such policy consulting has increased. A combination of New Public Management values and knowledge expansion are shown to drive this trend. In the late 1990s, the federal government significantly decreased the number of in-house operational and administrative support workers. These reductions enabled the government to contract out more while a managerial and administrative cadre remained in place to manage the contracts. The main implication is that contracting out analytical and advisory services does not necessarily lower costs, but does aid government in pursuing other objectives. The growth in Canadian policy consulting corresponded with a stabilization of public service personnel expenditures, a focus on leaner government, and an ability to rely on outside specialists for objective, expert advice.