The Metropolitan-Hinterland Thesis (or Centre-Periphery Thesis) theory of social and economic development, developed by Canadian historian Harold Adam Innis examines how economically advanced societies, through trade and colonialism, distort and retard economic development of less developed societies and regions. A metropolis is identified as the center of political and economic power. It possesses a more advanced labor market, more skilled and educated workers, an abundance of value-added production, higher standard of living, etc. A hinterland does not have the resources to withstand the political and economic interference of the metropolis. It features an abundance of resource extraction industries, fewer skilled and educated workers and a lower standard of living, and in many ways, it emulates the culture of the metropolis.
The metropolis-hinterland paradigm has generally been applied to the relationship between Great Britain and its New World colonies. But it has also been applied to the relationship between industrial and rural regions within Canada. Under the theory, the western Canadian provinces (B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan) are a hinterland to the political and economic forces of central Canada (Ontario and Quebec).