Policy-making in Canadian post-secondary education is rarely the subject of intensive, systematic study. This paper seeks to identify the distinctive ways in which Canadian post-secondary education policy decisions were constructed and implemented, and to posit an analytical framework for interpreting policy-making process in post-secondary education. Our focus is on post-secondary policy initiatives between 1990 and 2000. During this period, the federal government, under Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien undertook some unprecedented initiatives in the post-secondary education field. The paper discusses aspects of the 1993 election campaign, the Income Contingent Repayment (student assistance) proposal in 1994, the federal deficit cuts of 1995, the return to fiscal surplus in 1997, and the introduction of the following federal plans: the Canada Foundation on Innovation, the Canada Research Chairs Program, and the Millennium Foundation Scholarship Program. The paper concludes with the presentation of a conceptual framework designed to enhance understanding of the public policy-making process in post-secondary education and, potentially, other policy fields.