Hydro-Québec seeks to shield info as ex-employee’s economic spying trial begins

The Longueuil, Que., provincial courthouse is seen on Monday, April 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sidhartha Banerjee

A trial for a former employee of Quebec’s electricity utility accused of economic espionage on behalf of China was delayed Monday as Hydro-Québec announced it wanted to prevent some information in the case from being discussed in open court.

Yuesheng Wang, 38, was charged in November 2022. Authorities say he is the first person to be charged with economic espionage under Canada’s Security of Information Act.

During a brief noon-hour hearing, a lawyer for the utility told Quebec court Judge Jean-Philippe Marcoux that some of the evidence would reveal commercial secrets about their business and their clients, arguing that it should remain confidential.

Marcoux said the trial could not proceed before resolving the utility’s request. He scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to hear Hydro-Québec’s arguments.

Wang worked in a specialized centre at Hydro-Québec that developed technology for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems. He has maintained his innocence since the charges were laid.

The RCMP’s national security enforcement team began investigating in August 2022 after they received a complaint from Hydro-Québec’s corporate security branch.

In addition to economic espionage, Wang, a resident of Candiac, Que., was also charged under the Criminal Code for fraudulent use of a computer, fraudulently obtaining a trade secret and breach of trust.

The RCMP alleges that the former Hydro-Québec employee gave information about the public corporation to a Chinese university and Chinese research centres and that he published scientific articles and filed patents with them rather than with the public utility.

Police also allege Wang used information without his employer’s consent, harming Hydro-Québec’s intellectual property.

In April 2024, Wang was arraigned on two additional charges of committing preparatory acts on behalf of a foreign entity and informing that entity — the People’s Republic of China — of his intentions.

At the time the federal prosecution service lawyer said the new charges were based on the same set of facts and revolved around promises to share technology Wang allegedly made in applications to participate in the Thousand Talents program — a recruitment tool used by the Chinese government to attract foreign-trained scientists to return to work in China.

None of the allegations have been tested in court.

Wang is a Chinese national who was recruited by Hydro-Québec in 2016 and on a work visa. He worked as a researcher at a centre specializing in the development of new technologies for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems -- the Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage.

He was dismissed shortly before his arrest in 2022.

Wang previously told the court the privileged information he is alleged to have sent was not secret and was “open source.”

He also told the court during a bail hearing it was important for him to remain in Canada to clear his name and defend his reputation.

He was granted bail in 2022 after agreeing to surrender his Chinese passport, carry a cellphone at all times so police can use GPS to geolocate him, and put up his two Canadian properties as a guarantee.

The majority of the testimony is expected to be in French and would be translated into Mandarin. Wang took notes while sitting next to interpreter on Monday

The trial is taking place before Marcoux at the courthouse, just south of Montreal and was expected to last a total of four weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2025.