Hong Kong Watch welcomes the news that Canada’s long-awaited Foreign Influence Transparency Registry will come into force on August 4, 2026, more than two years after the Countering Foreign Interference Act (Bill C-70) received Royal Assent.
An Order in Council issued in late June confirms that Part 4 of the Act, which establishes the registry and the office of the Foreign Influence Transparency Commissioner, will take effect on that date. Mr. Anton Boegman is set to be formally appointed as Commissioner the same day.
Canada’s foreign influence registry will require individuals and organisations acting on behalf of foreign governments or related entities to publicly register their activities. The registry is intended to increase transparency about foreign influence in Canadian political and governmental processes and help deter covert foreign interference.
In June 2024, Hong Kong Watch testified before both the House of Commons and the Senate in support of Bill C-70, calling for the swift passage and implementation of a foreign agent registry to help counter the transnational repression faced by Hong Kongers and other diaspora communities in Canada. The bill passed, but its central accountability mechanism has sat dormant ever since, leaving the Hong Kong community exposed during a period when reports of foreign interference and intimidation continued to mount.
Landson Chan, Advocacy and Communications Officer of Hong Kong Watch, said:
“This is a welcome, if long overdue, step. For two years, Hong Kongers in Canada have continued to report surveillance, intimidation, and pressure from agents linked to Beijing, while the very tool meant to expose that activity sat unused. The registry finally coming into force means Canada can begin building a public record of who is acting for foreign states and why.
We urge the federal government to move quickly to implement the registry in full, resource the Commissioner’s office adequately, and revisit the Act’s scope to ensure it protects Canadians from the full spectrum of transnational repression, not only activity narrowly tied to elections and legislation.”