Canadian Social Policy Fifth Edition

Social policy shapes the daily lives of every Canadian citizen and should reflect the beliefs of a majority of Canadians on just approaches to the promotion of health, safety, and well-being. Too often, those on the front lines—social workers, nurses, and teachers—observe that policies do not work well for the most vulnerable groups in society. In the first part of this new edition of Canadian Social Policy, Westhues and Wharf argue that service deliverers have discretion in how policies are implemented, and the exercise of this discretion is how citizens experience policy—whether or not it is fair and reasonable. They show the reader how social policy is made and they encourage active citizenship to produce policies that are more socially just. New material includes an examination of the reproduction of systemic racism through the implementation of human rights policy and a comparative analysis of the policy-making process in Quebec and English Canada. The second part of the book discusses policy issues currently under debate in Canada. Included are new chapters that explore parental leave policies and housing as a determinant of health. All chapters contain newly updated statistical data and research and policy analysis. A reworked section on the process of policy-making and the addition of questions for critical reflection enhance the suitability of the book as a core resource in social policy courses. The final chapter explores how front-line workers in the human services can advocate for change in organizational policies that will benefit the people supported.

What are the major issues confronting social policy-makers today? What theoretical perspectives shape our thinking about the causes of social problems and how we should respond? What can we do to influence decision makers about which policy choice to make? In this completely revised and updated edition of "Canadian Social Policy," a new generation of social policy analysts discusses these important questions. Readers who are interested in discovering the current policy debates, and who want to understand the policy-making process at various levels of government as well as how they can influence the process and assess whether policies are working, will find this book invaluable.

Canadian Social Policy: An Introduction examines major social policy considerations in Canada. It is intended for an audience of graduate, senior undergraduate, and senior community college students in social work, and for professionals who want to update their knowledge of current policy contexts. It is also intended to offer insights to students and practitioners of other disciplines, such as anthropology, business administration, Canadian studies, clinical psychology, development studies, divinity, economics, education, geography, history, nursing, occupational therapy, political science, public administration, rehabilitation studies, and sociology. The market leader in policy analysis and social work studies, Canadian Social Policy is a comprehensive text with well-respected authors, a strong framework for analyzing social policies, and a much needed Canadian perspective. It balances concepts such as feminism, postmodernism, and social diversity with examinations of major social policy considerations in Canada and the world.

Canadian Social Welfare offers the most comprehensive view available of Canadian social welfare. This contributed Fifth Edition once again covers all of the key areas of social welfare: programs, policies, philosophy and history. It also includes completely up-to-date information, highlighting recent changes to national and provincial social welfare policies.

The second edition of Canadian Social Policy contains eighteen essays, written by eminent academicians and policy makers, including new essays on federal-provincial issues and social policy in Quebec. The book is divided into four section: (1) the development of social policy in Canada; (2) the current major issues in Canadian social policy development in such areas as income security, health policy, housing, immigration, inflation, and unemployment; (3) the process of social policy formulation within the Canadian context; and (4) the evaluation of Canadian social welfare policy and services. All articles have been revised and updated in order to provide a broad perspective on social policy development and also to help stimulate discussion and debate on major social welfare problems confronted by Canadian society in the 1980s and beyond.

Thinking Government examines the key roles and duties of the Canadian federal government and its public service, and the policy and program debates that revolve around these roles and duties. The fifth edition of this textbook provides students with a core awareness of major issues shaping federal policies and programs – socio-economic policy options, French-English relations, regionalism and regional policy, Canadian-American relations, immigration, environmental policy, and Indigenous relations. This book takes a close look at how prime ministers and cabinet ministers interact and discusses issues in federal, financial, and human resources management, ethics and accountability, and leadership. The new edition is revised and updated throughout and addresses the 2021 federal election and the resulting Trudeau minority government as well as the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thinking Government helps its readers to be smart citizens and knowledgeable critics of what governments do well, what they could be doing better, and why they, at times, fail to deliver effective policies and programs.

Changing Politics of Canadian Social Policy is a one-of-a-kind resource in the fields of political science and social work.