Canada and China sign financial sector agreements, widening bank market access

Overview

Updated 4 hours ago

Canada and China had no working channel between their financial regulators for more than seven years. On November 9, in Vancouver, they signed three.

The pacts cover a finance ministry memorandum, a standing supervisory dialogue between the two bank regulators, and terms for a working group that first met in April. Missing from them is any decision on Canada's suspended membership in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Why it matters

Three pacts give bank regulators in both countries a formal channel that has not existed since 2018, opening the door to licence applications.

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Key Indicators

Agreements signed in Vancouver

Finance ministry memorandum, supervisory dialogue agreement, and financial working group terms of reference.

4B yuan

Chinese green sovereign bonds to be sold in Canada

China's finance ministry announced the plan on November 5; The Globe and Mail put the value at roughly $845-million.

10x

Oversubscription Champagne reported on the bond sale

He told reporters he was told the issue was more than ten times covered.

16,200

Chinese-made EVs imported under the 2026 quota

Out of 49,000 allowed at low tariff over 12 months ending February 28, 2027, as of the end of October.

7+ years

Length of the bilateral freeze before this dialogue

The rupture dates to China's 2018 detention of two Canadians.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

He Lifeng

Vice Premier of China

Co-chaired the Vancouver dialogue

Francois-Philippe Champagne

Canada's Minister of Finance and National Revenue

Co-chaired the dialogue; cited bond sale as progress

Mark Carney

Prime Minister of Canada

Due to meet Xi Jinping at APEC in Shenzhen

Xi Jinping

President of China

Expected to meet Carney at APEC

Maninder Sidhu

Canada's Minister of International Trade

Co-signed the Vancouver joint statement

Pan Gongsheng

Governor of the People's Bank of China

Co-chairs the bilateral financial working group

Guy Saint-Jacques

Former Canadian ambassador to China

Commenting on the bond sale

Organizations Involved

Department of Finance Canada

Federal department

Signed the finance ministry memorandum

The federal ministry that runs Canada's fiscal and financial sector policy and hosted the Vancouver dialogue.

Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)

Federal financial regulator

Now has a standing channel to China's bank regulator

Canada's federal bank and insurer regulator, which supervises the institutions a Chinese bank would need approval from.

National Financial Regulatory Administration

Financial regulator

Counterpart to OSFI in the new dialogue

China's banking and insurance regulator, created to consolidate supervision outside the central bank and securities commission.

People's Bank of China

Central bank

Co-leads the financial working group

China's central bank, which hosts the bilateral financial working group and manages the currency swap arrangement both sides welcomed.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Multilateral development bank

Canada's membership remains suspended

The China-led development lender Canada joined and then suspended participation in, more than three years before the Vancouver meeting.

Timeline

December 2018 November 2026

6 events Latest: Yesterday

Tap a bar to jump to that date

November 2026
China's finance ministry publishes the joint factsheet
Latest Statement

Beijing releases the Chinese-language text confirming the three instruments and the currency swap welcome.
Yesterday
Three financial agreements signed in Vancouver
Agreement

Finance ministries, regulators and central banks sign a memorandum, a supervisory dialogue agreement and working group terms.
2 days ago
China announces yuan green bonds in Canada
Announcement

China's finance ministry says it will issue up to 4 billion yuan in green sovereign bonds in Canada.
6 days ago
April 2026
Financial working group meets for the first time
Meeting

Champagne and PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng co-chair in Beijing, with OSFI, the Bank of Canada and four Chinese regulators at the table.
April 3rd, 2026
January 2026
Carney signs economic roadmap in Beijing
Agreement

The roadmap commits both sides to create a financial working group reporting to the strategic dialogue.
January 16th, 2026
December 2018
Bilateral freeze begins
Diplomatic

China detains Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor after Canada arrests a Huawei executive on a US warrant.
December 2018

Scenarios

Carney and Xi meet at APEC and extend the electric vehicle quota

Possible Resolves by Dec 15, 2026

Discussed by: The Globe and Mail, which reported the expected meeting at the Shenzhen summit

The 49,000-vehicle low-tariff quota expires February 28, 2027, with only about a third used by the end of October. A leaders' meeting gives both sides a venue to extend or adjust it. Watch whether the readout from the meeting mentions vehicles at all.

A Chinese financial institution wins a new Canadian banking licence

Uncertain Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Champagne, who said the Vancouver talks covered banking licences and Chinese expansion in Canada

The supervisory dialogue gives OSFI and the NFRA a standing channel. A licence application would be the first test of whether that channel produces approvals rather than just conversation. No application has been publicly confirmed.

Ottawa reactivates its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank membership

Unlikely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: The Globe and Mail, which noted the question went unanswered in Vancouver

The joint statement commits both countries to deeper multilateral development cooperation, which is the bank's function. Reactivation would be the clearest sign that financial normalization extends past regulation into institutions. Carney has not announced a decision.

The thaw stalls: no new licences and the bank question stays frozen

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Implied by the absence of any AIIB decision at the Vancouver meeting and by Carney's investment guardrails

The agreements create process, not permissions. If the working group and supervisory dialogue meet through 2027 without a licence approval or an AIIB move, the pacts will read as a channel that exists but produces nothing.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

December 2018 – September 2021

Meng Wanzhou arrest and the Kovrig-Spavor detentions (2018–2021)

Canadian police arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US extradition warrant in December 2018. Within days, China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Both were held for nearly three years.

Then

All three left custody in September 2021, but ministerial economic dialogue did not restart.

Now

The episode set the frame for a decade of Canadian China policy: security first, trade second.

Why this matters now

The Vancouver agreements are the first financial regulatory channel built since that rupture, and they were negotiated under the guardrails it produced.

2012–2014

Canada-China foreign investment treaty (2012)

The two governments signed a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, setting rules for how each country treats the other's investors. It was ratified and took effect in 2014.

Then

It was the most substantial bilateral economic instrument between the two countries.

Now

It became a target in Canadian politics and was rarely invoked, as security concerns crowded out investment files.

Why this matters now

It shows the pattern this round faces: an economic agreement can be signed and then sit unused if the political relationship sours.

2014

China's first offshore yuan sovereign bond in London (2014)

China sold yuan-denominated sovereign debt in London, its first such issue outside Hong Kong and Macau, as part of a push to widen international use of its currency.

Then

London became a hub for offshore renminbi trading and settlement.

Now

Offshore issuance became a standard tool for Beijing to build financial links with individual countries.

Why this matters now

The Canadian green bond sale is the first such issue beyond London, Hong Kong and Macau, so it uses the same instrument to build a new financial link.