Building a Canadian Industrial Strategy: Adaptive Governance for Integrated Energy and Economic Policy

Abstract What one influential Science Council report said in 1979 could still be said today: “Canada has had an industrial policy… [but], Canada has not had a coherent industrial strategy” (Science Council of Canada, 1979). Canada has long offered supports for specific industries yet has not developed an integrated set of complementary measures to achieve strategic objectives. Institutional, cultural, and economic barriers continue to push against holistic approaches in favour of fragmented sectoral policies that can be dominated by strong incumbents. We argue that the net‐zero transition and geopolitical imperatives alike require a strategic approach that confronts these challenges directly by treating decarbonization, energy security, and economic competitiveness as a single integrated project. We outline how to do effective industrial strategy despite the multiple barriers, presenting recommendations for state capacity development, adaptive governance institutions, and effective policy mechanisms most likely to advance a geopolitically resilient transition in Canada.