Translating COVID-19 emergency plans into policy: A comparative analysis of three Canadian provinces

Following recent health crises-mad cow, SARS, H1N1-, countries and subnational entities refined their policy infrastructure to better respond to outbreaks, leading to pandemic emergency plans. These plans, which are the result of complex public policy-making processes, were translated into public policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to important policy issues and changes. Were these plans applied as planned? How did they evolve, as a policy object, during the pandemic? How do they compare among national/subnational entities? This paper proposes a comparative analysis of the existing plans, their temporal mobilization during the first 3 weeks of the pandemic, the policies they led to, and their successive revisions within a short period of time. Our analysis problematizes the translation process between policy and practice, bringing new light to the policy-making process under emergency and crisis. Informed by policy learning research and using a qualitative content analysis of existing COVID-19 pandemic plans in the three largest and most affected Canadian provinces (Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia), this article provides not only a better understanding of real-time policy making but also crisis-induced policy learning at the organizational level.