Canada Orders Chinese Surveillance Equipment Firm to Cease Operations, Citing National Security Concerns

Ottawa has ordered Hikvision, a Chinese manufacturer of surveillance equipment, to immediately and permanently halt its operations in Canada. In a June 27 statement posted on X, Mélanie Joly, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, said the decision was the result of a “National Security Review under the Investment Canada Act.”

Canada is also taking steps to prevent the federal government and its various departments, agencies, and Crown corporations from using or purchasing Hikvision equipment.

The U.S. blacklisted Hikvision in 2019 over allegations that the company’s equipment was used in human rights violations against the Muslim Uyghur population in China’s Xinjiang Province. Although Minister Joly’s statement did not specify the reasons for last week’s decision, in September 2024, Global Affairs Canada confirmed that it was conducting a review “after advocacy groups” called for sanctioning Hikvision and three other Chinese manufacturers of surveillance equipment.

On June 30, China’s Ministry of Commerce accused Canada of “over-generalizing national security,” urged it to “immediately correct its wrongdoings,” and vowed to take “necessary measures” against what it says is unfair treatment of Chinese firms. The Hikvision ban comes on the heels of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s June 5 phone call with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, in which the two discussed recalibrating the relationship.

The Hikvision decision underscores the complex considerations at play for Ottawa as it balances national and economic security concerns with opportunities for deeper economic relations with Beijing. China continues to be an important export market for Canada and, for example, is now the biggest customer of Canadian crude oil delivered through the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline.