Provincial Oversight and University Autonomy in Canada: Findings of a Comparative Study of Canadian University Governance

Oct 15, 2026

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Research universities must sustain conditions and capabilities for producing and disseminating knowledge while meeting government, stakeholder, and market expectations. This article examines how higher education institutions and systems meet the challenge of achieving and sustaining relative institutional autonomy through a comparative case study covering the governance of six major Canadian universities across five provinces. It reports that the universities vary along a state supervision-autonomy continuum but are all experiencing increased provincial supervision.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Conceptual Foundation

CSSHE SCÉES Canadian Journal of Higher Education Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur Volume 48, No. 3, 2018, pages 65-81 Provincial Oversight and University Autonomy in Canada: Findings of a Comparative Study of Canadian University Governance Julia Eastman University of Victoria Glen A. Jones OISE, University of Toronto Olivier Bégin-Caouette Université deMontréal Sharon X. Li OISE, University of Toronto Christian Noumi OISE, University of Toronto Claude Trottier Université Laval Abstract In order to fulfill their missions, research universities must maintain conditions and capacity for knowledge production and dissemination, while responding to the expectations of governments, other stakeholders, and/or markets. That universities succeed in this quest is vital, not only for their own future as organizations but also for the benefit of current and future generations of students, stakeholders, and society at large. We sought to contribute to the understanding of how higher education institutions and systems rise to the challenge of achieving and sustaining relative institutional autonomy by conducting a comparative case study of the governance of six major uni CJHE / RCES Volume 48, No. 3, 2018 Provincial Oversight and University Autonomy / J. Eastman, G. A. Jones, O. Bégin-Caouette, S. X. Li, C. Noumi, & C. Trottier 66 versities in five provinces in Canada. This article presents our findings with respect to provincial oversight of the case universities. We found that the case universities appeared to be coming from and to remain at different points on a state supervision/autonomy continuum, but all appeared to be experiencing greater provincial supervision. Résumé Afind’accomplirleurs missions, les universités à forteintensité de recherche se doivent de maintenir les conditions nécessaires à la production et à la diffusion des connaissances, tout en répondant aux attentes des gouvernements, des marchés et d’autres acteurs. L’atteinte de cet équilibre est vitale, non seulement pour leur propre avenir en tant qu’organisations, mais également pour les étudiants actuels et futurs, les acteurs universitaires et la société dans son ensemble. Cet article compare les études de cas de six grandes universitésdans cinq provinces canadiennes afin de mieux comprendre comment les universités et les systèmes d’enseignement supérieur parviennent à préserver une autonomie institutionnelle relative. Nos résultats suggèrent que les universités se situent à différents points sur un continuum autonomie/ contrôle étatique, mais aussi que toutes les universités sont assujetties à uncontrôle provincial accru. Introduction Universities have become one of the most important institutions in society. As Marginson (2015) has noted,“higher education has become an essential passport to full-time work and effective social status”(p. 11), and participation rates have increased throughout the world, with more than half of the traditional age cohort now enrolling in institutions of higher education in many countries, including Canada (Cantwell, Marginson, & Smolentseva, 2018) . In addition to universities’ educational function, enormous emphasis is now placed on university research in an era where knowledge production is linked to national economic development and innovation. Given their importance, there is an increasing interest in how universities can and should be governed (Austin & Jones, 2015) . How can public universities respond to the complex needs of their multiple stakeholders while at the same time retaining the independence needed to establish the necessary conditions for knowledge creation and dissemination? This question is particularly challenging for research universities, which “although powerful…are also fragile institutions, requiring autonomy, shared governance and academic freedom”(Altbach, 2015, p. 4) . We sought to contribute to the understanding of how higher education systems andi

FAQs

What overall pattern do the findings report regarding provincial oversight and autonomy?

The universities appear at different points on a supervision/autonomy continuum, but all show greater provincial supervision over time.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Muffet