GOVERNMENT POLICY AND ACCESS TO NATURAL-GAS SERVICE IN CANADA

Following the world oil price shock of the early 1970s, departments an d agencies of the governments of Canada and of a number of provinces s pent in excess of $1 billion on programs aimed at encouraging natural gas utilities to expand their distribution systems. We describe these programs and the associated public expenditures in each province, and examine their effects on the construction activities of utilities. Usi ng an annual series on access to gas service that we construct for eac h province for the period 1961 to 1990, we also examine the effects of these programs on changes in access and on how such access has evolve d relative to changes in the pipeline distribution system.