New Public Management (NPM) has been adopted in a number of Canadian provinces. NPM is not merely a set of neutral and technical public management strategies, rather it is part of the creation of a minimalist, residual welfare state criss-crossed by pro-market, non-market practices. Drawing on themes emerging from original data gathered as part of a study of social service restructuring, this article elaborates some of the pro-market, non-market processes that dominate state-run and non-profit sections of the Canadian social services sector. Special attention is paid to two processes that have had unexpected but major impacts on the deskilling, disciplining and narrowing of social services work, namely the mandatory licensure and specialization of some workers.
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