Organizing Government for the 21st Century

The last major reorganization of the federal government was undertaken by Prime Minister Campbell in 1993. Today, there is a new set of considerations that a new government must bear in mind to deal with a very different and much more uncertain world. This article responds to three of the articles in the December 2024 special edition of this journal by identifying ten of these new vectors, grouped under four inter-related headings: 1) The global environment in which Canada finds itself; 2) Scientific and technological change; 3) Social and cultural change; and 4) Changes in the geopolitical environment. The article poses the question, what does the government need to be able to do, and how should it do it, to govern effectively today and tomorrow? Noting that intelligence and agility are two essential characteristics of effective government in the 21^st century, the article concludes with suggestions for changes to the organization of the federal government.