Chinese surveillance company Hikvision seeks to overturn ban in Canada

A Chinese flag hangs near a Hikvision security camera outside of a shop in Beijing on Oct. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Chinese tech behemoth Hikvision, one of the world’s largest video surveillance camera manufacturing companies, is seeking to overturn the federal government’s decision last month to ban the company from operating in Canada.

Ottawa ordered Hikvision Canada to cease all operations and close its Canadian business at the end of June after a national security review determined allowing the surveillance technology company to continue its operations would threaten national security.

In a statement released Monday, the company announced it has submitted to the Attorney General of Canada a notice of application for a judicial review of the June 27 Canadian government order.

“Hikvision Canada did so to vigorously challenge the Order and to uphold what we believe is right,” reads the statement. “Through Canada’s legal system, we expect a fair process.”

The company said it is asking the federal court to pause the government order until its application for a judicial review is adjudicated, and that the company has reached an agreement with the Attorney General to resume normal operations until the court has ruled on the requested pause.

“Since entering the Canadian market, we have followed all applicable laws and regulations, and will continue to defend our position that Hikvision products and technology have not endangered the national security of Canada or any other country in which we operate,” reads the statement.

Canada is not the first country to take aim at Hikvision’s operations.

In 2022, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission barred the sale or import of new equipment made by Hikvision, citing “an unacceptable risk” to national security.

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who announced the initial Hikvision ban in June, did not provide a specific reason.

“This determination is the result of a multi-step review that assessed information and evidence provided by Canada’s security and intelligence community,” Joly said in a statement announcing the ban.

In January, the U.S. defence department identified Hikvision as having links to the Chinese military, and the company is a subsidiary of the state-owned firm China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

Hikvision has been identified in multiple reports as having links to the Chinese government’s mass repression campaign against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

“The company took lucrative contracts with the government in the Uyghur Region to supply, develop, and directly operate mass surveillance systems, including those equipped with facial recognition capabilities. Hikvision’s networks are installed in and around internment camps, schools, and mosques in the Uyghur Region,” reads a 2023 report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

“Research has shown that police across the Uyghur Region use Hikvision’s surveillance cameras and software identifying and targeting Uyghurs as part of a mass surveillance and predictive policing system,” adds the report.

Hikvision operates worldwide and the company says it provides products and services to more than 180 countries and regions.