Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

share a legal and political history as parts of the former

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, and Canada continues to maintain strong relations with Hong Kong as a special administrative region within

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The Canadian government strongly supports Hong Kong's autonomy under Chinese sovereignty in accordance with the "

one country, two systems "One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Deng Xiaoping developed the one country, two systems ...

" principle as provided for in the

Sino-British Joint Declaration The Sino-British Joint Declaration was a treaty between the governments of the United Kingdom and People's Republic of China signed in 1984 setting the conditions in which Hong Kong was transferred to Chinese control and for the governance o ...

and the

Hong Kong Basic Law The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). With nine chapters, 160 article ...

, which serves as Hong Kong's

organic law An organic law is a law, or system of laws, that form the foundation of a government, corporation or any other organization's body of rules. A constitution is a particular form of organic law. By country France Under Article 46 of the Constitutio ...

. Canadian policy toward Hong Kong is underpinned by its substantial commercial interests, the established Hong Kong diaspora in Canada, and the substantial Canadian expatriate community in the territory. An estimated 300,000 Canadian citizens reside in Hong Kong, making Hong Kong the second-largest Canadian community abroad after the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Canada and Hong Kong SAR both share the same "birthday," on 1 July, as

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

and Hong Kong SAR Establishment Day respectively.

History

Both Hong Kong and Canada shared common history for being part of the British Empire. Interactions between Hong Kong and Canada increased with the start of Trans-Pacific services of Canadian Pacific Steamship Company (CPSC), a company of Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 19th century. From 1887 through 1941, three specially designed ''Empress'' ocean liners—the RMS ''Empress of China'', the RMS ''Empress of India'' and the RMS ''Empress of Japan'' provided passengers and cargo services, in addition being contracted postal service provider between the British Isles and Hong Kong via Canada began in 1891. CPR initiated an ocean-going service between the port of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and Victoria, BC and

, with calls at Japan and China, and later at Manila, Philippine Islands and Honolulu, Hawaii. This service provided a link for CPR's

transcontinental railroad A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous rail transport, railroad trackage that crosses a continent, continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the Ra ...

passenger and freight services. Passengers could travel from the British Isles to Eastern Canada, travel across Canada via railway to Vancouver, and onward to Asian destinations including Hong Kong. During 1887, temporary steamship service was initiated on a Vancouver-Yokohama-Hong Kong route. Low-cost labourers from southern China could travel from Hong Kong to Western Canada on the same route, eventually help building the Canadian Pacific Railway (between 1881 and 1885) and

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

in the 1890s for potential gold prospects. The first ever Canadian representative in Hong Kong was the Canadian Immigration office, which opened in 1923. Canadian first participated in a land battle during the Second World War, albeit a lost battle, was the

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

. The same mission elevated to become Canadian Trade Commission from 1927 until the Handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty in July 1997, when it became the current mission of Canadian Consulate-General to Hong Kong & Macao. In November 2020, Canada's consul general in Hong Kong and Macao said that the Canadian government had drafted plans to evacuate nearly 300,000 Canadians living in Hong Kong if the security situation deteriorated.

Bilateral agreements

Articles 151, 153 and 155 of the

permit Hong Kong to conclude its own non-military bilateral agreements with foreign countries. The bilateral treaty on air services between Canada and Hong Kong predates the

handover of Hong Kong The handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China was at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony, which began in 1841. Hong Kong was established as a specia ...

and has remained in force since 1988. Since the transfer to Chinese sovereignty, the governments of Canada and Hong Kong entered in to several other bilateral agreements. A

mutual legal assistance treaty A mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) is an agreement between two or more countries for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws. A mutual legal assistance request is commonly used to fo ...

was enacted in 2002. The Canada-Hong Kong Income Tax Agreement, a

tax treaty A tax treaty, also called double tax agreement (DTA) or double tax avoidance agreement (DTAA), is an agreement between two countries to avoid or mitigate double taxation. Such treaties may cover a range of taxes including income taxes, inheritanc ...

, entered into force on October 29, 2013. The Canada-Hong Kong Surrender of Fugitive Offenders Agreement, an

extradition treaty In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

enacted on June 13, 1997, between Canada and Hong Kong, was suspended by Government of Canada on July 3, 2020, in response to the promulgation of the

Hong Kong national security law Hong Kong national security legislation may refer to one of the following laws/bills: Laws in force * Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2020 national law of C ...

by the Chinese Central Government.

Cultural

There are 500,000 people of Hong Kong descent in Canada, which encompasses around 216,000 people of Hong Kong born population now live in Canada, per 2006 Census in Canada. The

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada), created by an Act of Parliament in 1984, is an independent, not-for-profit think-tank on Canada's relations with Asia. Based in Vancouver, with a secondary office in Toronto, APF Canada funct ...

gave a conservative estimate of over 295,000 Canadians living in Hong Kong, as of 2011, while Hong Kong Census declared along with some, plays a dynamic role in building vibrant bilateral relations. Over 100,000 Canadian university alumni representing various active alumni associations in Hong Kong. The Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao in Central represents the Canadian federal government in Hong Kong as well as in the neighbouring SAR of

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Some Canadian provinces also operate their own trade offices or immigration offices in Hong Kong; these include Alberta, British Columbia Trade and Invest BC Representative in Hong Kong
/ref> and Quebec. In Canada, the Hong Kong SAR is represented through the

Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) are the trade offices of Hong Kong outside the territory. There are 14 HKETOs outside Hong Kong and China, and seven in China (four offices and three liaison units). In addition to HKETOs, the ...

based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario.Canada-Hong Kong relationship
Canadian Consulate-General Hong Kong There are an estimated 295,000 Canadians residing in Hong Kong, larger than the population of Regina or

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, or twice of that of the province of

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, of which 85% are Canadian-born (higher than Canada's 80.2%), and an estimated >500,000 Hong Kong Canadians residing in Canada. The Canadian Consulate General in the territory is among the largest foreign missions of Canada and larger than many Canadian embassies by number of staff and annual budget, and engages actively in the latest political development of the territory, including statements regarding suppression of human rights and press freedom, and open support in the form of posts and tweets towards the annual vigil to commemorate the June 4th Tian'anmen Massacre in 1989. Hong Kong Canadians have served as Governor-General, Lieutenant Governors, Senator, ministers and shadow ministers, members of provincial assemblies, university chancellor, and city councillors.

Tourism

According to data from Tourism Industry Association of Canada, Canadian tourists in Hong Kong spent more than C$99 million in the year 2011. On the other way 46,680 Canadian tourists visited Hong Kong making Canada the eighth highest source of tourists. Both Canada and Hong Kong have offered "

Working Holiday A working holiday visa is a residence permit that allows travellers to undertake employment (and sometimes study) in the country issuing the visa to supplement their travel funds. For many young people, holding a working holiday visa enables the ...

Programs" since March 2010. The programme allows 200 young students to holiday in Hong Kong or Canada and to take temporary employment as needed to cover the expenses of their visit. The programme aims to increase travel by young people between Canada and Hong Kong and to strengthen the links between the two regions.Hong Kong Working Holiday Scheme – Canada
/ref>

References

External links

Canadian Consulate-General in Hong Kong
Official Site
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada)
Official Site of HKETO in Toronto, Ontario
Alberta Office in Hong Kong
– Official Site
Service d’Immigration du Quebec in Hong Kong

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
– Official Site {{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Hong Kong relations

Bilateral relations of Hong Kong