Chinese surveillance-camera maker Hikvision has launched a judicial review after Canada ordered the firm to shut down its Canadian unit on 27 June 2025 under the Investment Canada Act.
This nationwide order to expel Chinese Hikvision did not arrive in a vacuum. Eighteen months earlier, Quebec became the first Canadian jurisdiction to block the company.
On 21 December 2023, Cyber-security Minister Éric Caire signed a ministerial decree prohibiting all provincial ministries, schools, and municipalities from installing new Hikvision (and Dahua) gear and requiring existing units to be isolated or removed from networks. The decree labelled the equipment “a significant security threat to the Quebec state.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said the order came “after a thorough national-security review,” adding that Canada “welcomes foreign investment but will never compromise national security.” She did not disclose what specific threat Hikvision poses.
Hikvision argues the decision is prejudiced. “The Government imposed its decision without presenting evidence or addressing the facts we provided,” the company said in an official statement posted to its Canadian site. It claims the ban targets the firm’s country of origin rather than any proven risk.
On July 7, the company filed a notice of application with the Federal Court, seeking both a judicial review and a stay of enforcement. The filing allows Hikvision to continue day-to-day operations while the court decides whether the shutdown order should stand.
Canada’s directive also bars federal agencies and Crown corporations from buying or using Hikvision equipment. The move aligns Ottawa with Washington, which banned new imports of Hikvision gear in 2022 over alleged links to human-rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.
What comes next
- Stay decision: The court will decide in weeks whether to freeze the shutdown order pending a full hearing.
- Security disclosure: Court filings may compel Ottawa to reveal the classified threat assessment behind both federal and provincial bans.
- Precedent risk: A win for Hikvision could embolden other Chinese tech suppliers facing Western security curbs; a loss would strengthen Canada’s hand in future reviews.
For founders and investors, the case is a litmus test of how far Canada is prepared to go in securitising frontier tech supply chains, and how quickly companies must adapt their North American market strategies.
