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A measure of Beijing’s political influence surged more than 50 percent in Canada over the past two years, an international study finds, after media reports of China’s clandestine election interference were confirmed in public reviews. The China Index 2024, produced by Taiwan’s Doublethink Lab and its global research partners, shows that Beijing’s presence in Canadian politics, academia, media, and society is advancing at a faster pace than almost anywhere else in the democratic world.

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The most alarming takeaway is that China’s increasing grip on Canadian institutions is driving dependence — a factor that could pull Canadian decision makers closer into Beijing’s orbit on economic, security, and social policies.

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The results reflect a “triple movement” in Canada’s relationship with Beijing: greater exposure through academic, media, and technology ties; sustained pressure through China’s diplomacy and retaliation; and rising alignment in the two nations’ policy positions.

“Canada experienced rising exposure and alignment with the PRC alongside sustained high levels of coercive pressure,” the report says, “highlighting a complex mix of engagement and influence dynamics.”

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This confirms a longstanding pattern documented by The Bureau: pro-Beijing Chinese-language outlets in Canada continue to echo Beijing’s lines on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang. Diaspora-linked cultural organizations, often connected to PRC diplomats or United Front groups, are also highly active. The Index notes that between 2022 and 2024, diaspora cultural events tied to PRC entities nearly doubled worldwide, rising from 38 percent of countries surveyed to 72 percent. Canada is among the cases where these events are expanding and carry political overtones.

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Beijing’s penetration of Canadian technology sectors, from consumer electronics to PRC-linked equipment in infrastructure, remains high. Globally, PRC-linked technology is now embedded in 78.8 percent of critical infrastructure sectors, up from 65.4 percent in 2022, and Canada is part of that trend.

The Economic domain, by contrast, declined slightly for Canada between 2022 and 2024. This may reflect Ottawa’s incremental steps to tighten foreign investment reviews and limit acquisitions in sensitive sectors. Still, the decline in the economic category did not offset the steep rise in politics and technology, which now dominate Canada’s dependence profile.

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