In 2013, the government abolished the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which had been Canada’s flagship foreign aid agency for decades, and transferred its functions to the newly renamed Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD). As the government is rethinking Canadian aid and its relationship with other foreign policy and commercial objectives, the time is ripe to rethink Canadian aid more broadly.

Edited by Stephen Brown, Molly den Heyer and David R. Black, this revised edition not only analyzes Canada’s past development assistance, it also highlights important new opportunities in the context of the recent change in government. Designed to reach a variety of audiences, contributions by twenty scholars and experts in the field offer an incisive examination of Canada’s record and initiatives in Canadian foreign aid, including its relatively recent emphasis on maternal and child health and on the extractive sector, as well as the longer-term engagement with state fragility.

The portrait that emerges is a sobering one. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Canada’s changing role in the world.

Steven Brown has been a student of Northwest Coast Native cultures since the mid-1960s and is a former curator at the Seattle Art Museum. He lives in Sequim, Washington.

Stephen Brown's profile page

Molly den Heyer's profile page

David R. Black is Lester B. Pearson Professor of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. His research has focused on Canada’s role in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa’s place within the continent, and sport in world politics. He is co-editor of A Decade of Human Security (2006) and The International Politics of Mass Atrocities: The Case of Darfur (2008).

David R. Black's profile page

• Winner, Hill Times 100 Best Political Books of 2015 (#67)

Rethinking Canadian Aid s’impose non seulement comme une lecture obligatoire pour ceux et celles qui s’intéressent à la transformation du rôle du Canada en matière de développement international, mais également aux débats portant sur les changements propres à l’ère Harper. Considérant aussi le fait que ce livre soit en libre accès sur Internet (www.bit.ly/CdnAidpdf), nous ne pouvons que saluer cette brillante initiative qui en fait un ouvrage véritablement incontournable.

Politique et Sociétés, vol. 35, n° 2-3, 2016, p. 267-269.

Strongly recommended. (...) well-designed and copyedited, (...) reasonably priced (open access) (...) Great value for money and excellent additions to one’s library. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2017.1272440

Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d'études du développement

Rethinking Canadian Aid s’impose non seulement comme une lecture obligatoire pour ceux et celles qui s’intéressent à la transformation du rôle du Canada en matière de développement international, mais également aux débats portant sur les changements propres à l’ère Harper. Considérant aussi le fait que ce livre soit en libre accès sur Internet (www.bit.ly/CdnAidpdf), nous ne pouvons que saluer cette brillante initiative qui en fait un ouvrage véritablement incontournable.

Politique et Sociétés, vol. 35, n° 2-3, p. 267-269