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.
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?
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.
Areas of focus:
New survey findings suggest Canadians see cracks in the machinery of government. Repairing them is critical to Canada's economic ambitions. […]
With Susan Holt
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President and Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Research on Public Policy
Visiting Scholar and Associate Professor of Political Management, Carleton University
Research Associate
Douglas Nevison
Charles Breton, Ji Yoon Han, David McLaughlin and Caroline Woodward
from The Centre
by Kevin G. Lynch, Jim Mitchell - April 17, 2026
by Allen Sutherland - October 1, 2025
by Kathryn May - August 11, 2025
by Kathryn May – May 14, 2025
by Hunaifa Malik, Daniel Béland, Jennifer Robson – April 2, 2025
by Kathryn May – January 17, 2025
The machinery of government, explained. Track what’s happening across the federal public service and why it matters.
Webinar
July 15, 2025
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.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Jennifer Ditchburn is the President and CEO of the Institute for Research on Public Policy. She is a not-for-profit sector executive and seasoned communicator working to make complex public policy issues and politics better understood by Canadians. From 2016 to 2021, she was the Editor-in-Chief of the IRPP’s influential digital magazine, Policy Options.
Prior to joining the IRPP, Jennifer spent two decades covering national and parliamentary affairs for The Canadian Press and for CBC Television. She is the winner of three National Newspaper Awards, the recipient of the prestigious Charles Lynch Award for outstanding coverage of national issues, and three Canadian Online Publishing silver awards for her columns. In 2015, she was named one of the 10 most influential Hispanic–Canadians. Jennifer sits on the board of the Banff Forum, an influential Canadian leadership network. She is also a fellow at Carleton University’s Political Management program, and an inductee in the Hall of Distinction at CEGEP John Abbott College.
Jennifer is the co-editor with Graham Fox of the 2016 book The Harper Factor: Assessing a Prime Minister’s Policy Legacy (McGill-Queen’s University Press). Her research on the history of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery appeared in five chapters of the 2016 book Sharp Wits & Busy Pens (Hill Times Publishing). She has a Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University and Master of Journalism from Carleton.
Visiting Scholar; Associate professor of political management, Carleton University
Jennifer Robson is an associate professor of political management at Carleton University, where she teaches courses on public policy and research methods. She holds a PhD in public policy and degrees in political science and psychology. Her research addresses social and tax policy, poverty in Canada and public administration. Prior to joining Carleton, she held several policy and research roles in the nonprofit and public sectors. She was director of policy for the nonprofit SEDI (now Prosper Canada) and worked in the federal public service. Jennifer has also served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Tax Expenditures to the Minister of Finance and was a member of the National Research Committee on Financial Literacy for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
Research Associate
Maya Lach-Aidelbaum is a communications specialist with experience spanning research communication, higher education and broadcast journalism. She is currently supporting the IRPP’s Capacity for Change Project as a Research Associate. Previously, she worked as a Writer and Coordinator for Research and Graduate Communications at Concordia University, where she highlighted key research through stories accessible to a broad audience. Before that, she worked as a reporter and associate producer at CBC News across Montreal, Toronto and Whitehorse, including on Quirks and Quarks, Canada’s leading science radio show.
She is currently completing a Master of Arts in Media Studies from Concordia University, where her research-creation project explores the politics of sleep and insomnia through documentary. Maya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a minor in Women’s Studies from Concordia University.
