How do Canadian provincial and territorial governments intervene in the cultural and artistic lives of their citizens? What issues and influences shaped the origin and implementation of these policies? On what foundations were policies based in the past, and on what foundations are they based today?

How have governments defined the concepts of culture and cultural policy over time? What are the objectives and outcomes of policies, and what instruments do governments use to pursue them? Answers to these questions are multiple and complex, partly because of the unique historical context of each province and territory, and partly as a result of the various objectives of successive governments, and the values and identities of their citizens.

Cultural Policy: Origins, Evolution, and Implementation in Canada's Provinces and Territories provides a comprehensive synthesis of the history of subnational cultural policies, including governments' institutionalization and instrumentalization of culture, and the development, dissemination, and impact of cultural policy interventions.