This paper investigates the impact that a federal government structure has on strategic selection of renewable energy policy instruments. The context for this study centers on wind power development in Canada. Canada is a nation that is blessed by all the attributes necessary to catalyze global leadership in installed wind power capacity. Unfortunately, the constitutional separation of powers that underpins Canada's federal system impedes the creation of a national wind power development strategy because Canada's provinces have constitutional authority over electricity governance. The insights gleaned from the case study are used to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the impact that federal structure has on policy instrument selection and efficacy under areas of federal, regional and concurrent policy jurisdiction. Finally, this framework is re-applied to identify specific approaches the Canadian federal government could take to resolve what currently amounts to be a fragmented, ineffective approach to wind power development planning. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.