Yes, there have also been Chinese "police stations" in Canada. In its November 2023 Interim Report of the Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship for Canada's parliament [1], investigators detailed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has established unauthorized "police service stations" in major Canadian cities - at least 3 in Greater Toronto, 2 in Vancouver, and potentially 2 more in Montreal/Brossard. While branded as administrative service centers, these stations are reportedly part of a broader transnational repression apparatus.
What makes this particularly concerning is their alleged connection to the United Front Work Department (UFWD), the CCP's primary foreign interference arm. Most operators are local residents with established community connections and long-term involvement in influence operations, making them more effective than parachuted-in agents.
The RCMP has launched investigations and taken some interesting tactical approaches - including deliberately visible patrols with marked cars to encourage reporting and show community members they're taking action. However, investigations are described as "lengthy" and no arrests have been made yet.
The parliamentary committee seems to view this as part of a broader pattern of increasing transnational repression under Xi Jinping. According to Safeguard Defenders' testimony, there were at least 11,000 "successful persuasion to return" operations globally between 2014-2022, with at least 3 confirmed cases in Canada.
What's particularly striking is that these stations operate quite brazenly in G7 countries. It's a remarkable example of how authoritarian states are becoming increasingly bold in projecting power within democratic societies. The Canadian government has formally demanded the PRC cease these activities as violations of diplomatic conventions, but enforcement remains challenging.
The report suggests several countermeasures, including a foreign agent registry (currently defined in Bill C-70 [2]) and modernizing the 1984 CSIS Act, but the most interesting recommendation might be the call for coordinated frameworks among democratic allies to address transnational repression more systematically.
[1] https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/CACN/Reports...
[2] https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/bill/C-70/first-r...