Local government, multilevel governance, and cluster‐based innovation policy: Economic cluster strategies in Canada’s city regions

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between local government economic development policy and multilevel governance, and investigates whether multilevel governance can be effectively implemented in key sectors, using two case studies of the aerospace and fashion sectors. This article seeks to answer the following questions: What inhibits the formation of multilevel collaborative governance institutions in these sectors? What implications does this have for urban economic development policy for the City of Toronto, and by extension, other cities across Canada? The case study evidence suggests that these institutions are forming in other cities such as Montreal and contributing to their success. So why is Toronto different?Sommaire : Cet article a pour but d'étudier la relation entre la politique de développement économique du gouvernement local et la gouvernance multi-niveaux et d'examiner si l'approche de gouvernance à plusieurs niveaux peut être mise en oeuvre efficacement dans des secteurs clés, en s'appuyant sur deux études de cas dans les domaines de l'aérospatial et de la mode. L'article vise à répondre aux questions suivantes : Qu'est-ce qui entrave la création d'institutions à plusieurs niveaux de gouvernance collaborative dans ces secteurs? Et quelles en sont les implications pour la politique de développement économique urbain pour la Ville de Toronto, et par extension, d'autres villes à travers le Canada? Les éléments probants de l'étude de cas indiquent que ces institutions se forment dans d'autres villes comme Montréal et contribuent à leur succès. Ainsi, pourquoi la Ville de Toronto est-elle différente?

Multilevel governance through a strategic lens: Innovation policy delivery in Ontario

“…In terms of substantive policy contribution, the findings in this research build on the insight of earlier studies (Galvin 2019; Tamtik 2016; Gertler, Wolfe, and Bradford 2016) that have examined the intergovernmental dimensions of Ontario’s innovation ecosystem. Central to this insight is how the strategic vision and maneuvres of these networks of local and non‐state actors at the grassroots of innovation ecosystems have synchronized and consolidated the conventional contours of intergovernmental relations from the bottom up.…”

“…Consequently, local and regional municipalities, as creatures of the provinces, have not been given sufficient attention. Addressing this oversight in the Canadian federal context has been the principal focus of a growing body of literature (Doberstein 2016; Harvey and Young 2012; Horak and Young 2012; Henstra 2013; Leo and August 2009; Conteh and Panter 2017; Galvin 2019; Lucas and Smith 2019; Zeemering 2016). The present discussion builds on this body of literature.…”

“…Canada’s pursuit of innovation has made a profound contribution to the country’s prosperity in the postwar period and is proving to be one of the defining factors of its global competitiveness as the current era of unprecedented knowledge‐intensive economies unfolds (Niosi et al 2000; Doern et al 2016). A number of scholars have shed light on the geographical contours of Canada’s regional innovation systems across the country (Niosi et al 2005; Gertler, Wolfe, and Bradford 2016; Galvin 2019) Others have provided an institutional overview of Canada’s national innovation system, including details of federal and provincial innovation policies and the mandates of the respective agencies (Tamtik 2016; Doern et al 2016; Niosi et al 2000). A few studies have gone further to examine the intergovernmental relations (or lack thereof) of Canada’s innovation policy environment (Tamtik 2016; Bradford and Wolfe 2013).…”

“…In closing, an overview of Canada’s innovation policy ecosystem would reveal the absence of formalized structures or processes of institutional or policy alignment between the orders of government (Galvin 2019; Tamtik 2016; Doern et al 2016; Niosi et al 2000). However, upon closer examination of the case of southern Ontario, one observes informal but enduring mechanisms of multiscalar joint action that serve as correctives to the institutional ataxia of Canada’s federal system.…”

“…This includes an insightful body of work on the Canadian federation (Harvey and Young 2012; Horak and Young 2012; Henstra 2013; Ircha and Young 2013; Andrew et al 2014). The main thread weaving through the fabric of this literature is the recognition that most policy issues manifest a profound degree of complexity that tends to dwarf the financial resources, technical expertise, constitutional posturing and jurisdictional authority of any single level of government, thereby necessitating some form of multi‐scalar joint action (Bakvis et al 2019; Galvin 2019; Alcantara and Spicer 2016; Bradford and Wolfe 2019; Doberstein 2013; Leo and August 2009; Papillon 2012).…”