This paper interprets the evolution of the Canadian economy since the early 1970s from the perspective of regulation theory. This framework makes it possible to draw conceptual links between economic globalization, job losses in developed countries, retrenchment of the welfare state, and political shifts to the right. It portrays post-Fordism as a source of income decline and polarization, disjunction between production and consumption, and fiscal crisis, which together mark the evolution of the Canadian economy over the last 25 years. The paper focuses on the regional consequences of post-Fordism in Canada, in particular on the concentration of economic growth in areas whose size is increasingly limited and on the poor performance of most regions. It concludes by exploring the possibility for alternative, small scale, forms of economic development to emerge in economically declining regions, and eventually contribute to the replacement of post-Fordism.