Ottawa [Canada], November 11 (ANI): Canada's Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has said authorities will examine allegations that China operates multiple liaison points across Canada representing Chinese police, security and judicial agencies, following a report by human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders that identified more than a dozen such locations in the country.
According to a report by The Epoch Times (TET), Anandasangaree said the allegations needed to be investigated and independently confirmed, stressing that foreign interference of any kind would not be tolerated.
His remarks followed an October 27 report by Safeguard Defenders, which claimed that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities maintain a network of 1,247 liaison points worldwide, including more than a dozen in Canada. The report alleged that the network is used to suppress dissent, gather intelligence and monitor members of the Chinese diaspora.
“I can say that foreign interference of any sort is unacceptable. It’s something that we will not tolerate. With respect to these specific allegations, they are allegations and have not been investigated,” Anandasangaree told CTV News, according to TET.
However, the minister cautioned against automatically associating Chinese community organisations with suspicious activities, noting that some of the associations identified were ordinary community groups providing civic services to members of the Chinese diaspora.
He also warned that linking unsubstantiated numbers of community associations to suspected foreign interference could create unnecessary fear and unfairly affect Chinese Canadians.
The Safeguard Defenders report identified alleged Chinese liaison points in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal and Brossard, Quebec. It linked some of these locations to Chinese police forces, justice bureaus, courts, prosecutorial functions and administrative activities.
According to the report, China's overseas network continued to expand even after suspected Chinese overseas police stations were publicly exposed in 2022. It alleged that the network increasingly operated through community associations and liaison arrangements that were less visibly connected to policing activities.
The issue of suspected Chinese overseas police stations has previously prompted investigations by Canadian authorities. In February 2023, then-RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told a parliamentary committee that police officers and RCMP vehicles had been deployed to several suspected locations in Toronto and Vancouver to disrupt activities taking place there.
In June 2023, then-acting RCMP Commissioner Michael Duheme told the committee that authorities believed they had successfully stopped suspicious activities at the suspected Chinese police stations, although investigations were continuing.
The RCMP subsequently closed its investigation into two alleged suspicious locations at Chinese community centres in the Greater Montreal area without filing charges. The organisations involved have since taken legal action against the Canadian government, according to TET.
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Glen Motz said the latest Safeguard Defenders report raised serious concerns about foreign interference and the security of Canadians.
In a November 7 social media post, Motz accused Beijing of interfering in Canadian elections, kidnapping Canadian citizens, establishing secret police stations on Canadian soil, deploying surveillance buoys in Arctic waters and sending spy balloons through Canadian airspace.
He demanded greater transparency from Prime Minister Mark Carney's government regarding what it knew about the allegations, what action it intended to take and how it planned to protect Canada's sovereignty and the safety of its citizens.
Motz also questioned the government's position on China, referring to what he described as a reversal by the prime minister after previously calling China Canada's biggest security threat.
Responding to the latest report, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told The Epoch Times that it had previously investigated suspected foreign police stations and had responded appropriately.
“The RCMP takes all allegations of foreign interference, transnational repression, and foreign state-linked criminal activity seriously,” an RCMP spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The spokesperson added that police continued to actively investigate reports of criminal activity associated with locations of interest, transnational repression and individuals responsible for such activities, with the objective of protecting diaspora communities from foreign interference.
The RCMP also acknowledged that some locations investigated for suspicious activities provided services to the Chinese Canadian community and urged anyone witnessing suspicious activity to report it to authorities.
The Safeguard Defenders report maintained that the alleged Chinese police activities were part of a much wider network used by CCP authorities to monitor and repress diaspora communities overseas.
Adding to the concerns, a February 2026 investigation by the Jamestown Foundation, a US-based think tank, concluded that at least 575 organisations in Canada were linked to China's United Front system. The investigation said these organisations formed part of a wider network of more than 2,000 organisations spread across four Western countries.
The Epoch Times also reported that it contacted the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa for a response to the allegations but had not received a reply by the time of publication. (ANI)
Canada to probe claims of Chinese police network operating in country
