OTTAWA — More than one year after Industry Minister Mélanie Joly ordered the government rip out all Chinese surveillance giant Hikvision gear from its properties, multiple key federal organizations refuse to say if they have done so.
asserted
they → order → properties
In statements provided over the last two months, the Canadian Space Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Environment and Climate Change Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Parks Canada all declined to say if they continued to use Hikvision cameras at their offices.
asserted
they → provide → offices
Furthermore, two government agencies — the National Research Council and the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority — told National Post that they continue to use Hikvision cameras.
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they → tell → cameras
That’s despite a clear order from Joly over one and a half year ago that she wanted all those devices out of every single federal government office.
asserted
devices → ’ → office
“The silence actually to me is the story itself,” said Dennis Molinaro, a former federal national security analyst and author of Under Assault: Interference and Espionage in China’s Secret War Against Canada.
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Molinaro → say → Canada
“The products are ordered out, and refusing to say … whether the cameras are actually removed undercuts the government’s own findings.”
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cameras → order → findings
In June 2025, Joly issued a federal ban on Hikvision Canada — a global leader in surveillance camera gear that is partly owned by the Chinese government — due to national security concerns.
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that → issue → concerns
She gave the company 120 days to pack its bags and shut down its Canadian operation.
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She → give → operation
According to the minister, the company’s work in Canada created an unacceptable risk of espionage and mass surveillance which raised significant concerns among the federal security and intelligence community.
uncertain
which → accord → community
It is partly state-owned by the Chinese government and benefits from PRC subsidies that allow it to sell its equipment cheaper than most competitors.
asserted
it → own → competitors
But over the last decade, the company has been linked to multiple major cybersecurity vulnerabilities, allegedly used by the Chinese government for mass surveillance of Uyghurs and other minority groups, and has been blacklisted governments around the world over espionage concerns.
uncertain
company → link → concerns
The ban also extended to federal departments, agencies and crown corporations, who were henceforth barred from purchasing or using any Hikvision equipment.
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who → extend → equipment
“The Government of Canada is further conducting a review of existing properties to ensure that legacy Hikvision products are not used going forward,” Joly said, all the while “strongly” encouraging Canadians to “take note of this decision and make their own decisions accordingly.”
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Joly → conduct → decisions
Hikvision is currently challenging the ban in Federal Court and has dismissed the government’s claims as baseless and unfounded.
uncertain
Hikvision → challenge → claims
“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,” Hikvision said in response to the June 2025 order.
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Hikvision → enter → order
In September 2025, a judge refused to temporarily suspend the application of the order pending a final judicial decision, citing the “serious public interest harms” linked to the national security risks posed by Hikvision.
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judge → refuse → Hikvision
According to a 2024 document tabled in Parliament, over a dozen federal departments and agencies declared using Hikvision gear.
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departments → accord → gear
Many more said they had previously purchased or used equipment from the company but had since stopped, sometimes citing security concerns.
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they → say → concerns
Contacted by National Post in recent weeks, the majority of the federal bodies who declared Hikvision gear on their properties in 2024 said they had complied with the June 2025 to remove the equipment.
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they → contact → equipment
That included Justice Canada, Via Rail, Veteran Affairs Canada and the Military Police Complaints Commission.
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That → include → Canada
But a slew of departments and agencies, including some who host troves of sensitive personal data such as ESDC or conduct classified research and work like the Canadian Space Agency, refused to say if they’d complied with the 2025 order.
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they → include → order
In all cases, they pointed to Hikvision’s lawsuit against the government to justify their silence.
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they → point → silence
But more surprisingly to national security specialists is the fact that the National Research Council (NRC) and Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority continue to use such gear, in apparent violation of Joly’s 2025 order.
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Council → continue → order
“The cameras referenced in the 2024 (document) remain in use at WDBA’s community office, which serves as a space for WDBA to share non-confidential information with the public.
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WDBA → reference → public
The cameras will no longer be in service as of November 2026,” said bridge authority spokesperson Heather Grondin.
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Grondin → say → November
In a statement, NRC spokesperson Pamela Pilon said the organization removed all Hikvision gear from its security systems in 2025, but continues to use them to monitor “non-sensitive experiments and work areas.”
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organization → say → experiments
“None of the NRC’s remaining Hikvision cameras are connected to the internet or NRC networks,” Pilon said.
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Pilon → remain → internet
“The cameras used in research will be eliminated this year.
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cameras → use → research
Neither of those explanations satisfied Molinaro or Andrew Kirsch, a former CSIS intelligence officer and founder of risk consultancy Kirsch Group.
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Neither → satisfy → Group
“You’d like to think that if the government’s going to implement a ban, at the very least the government can follow it, right?,” Kirsch said.
“If it’s important enough for us to want to look at it, it may be important enough for someone else to want to look at,” Kirsch said.
uncertain
Kirsch → like → it
Seeing who may be transiting through a federal office, everyday conversations or finding out more about NRC experiments can all be extremely valuable to a foreign intelligence service.
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who → see → service
Andrew Elvish, vice-president at Montreal-based security software firm Genetic, said that his company has essentially barred clients from connecting Hikvision hardware to their tech because of the risks.
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company → base → risks
“If you should wish to make a terrible technology decision, you will have to sign a waiver to hold us harmless when the sh-t hits the fan, as we believe it surely will, and (you) did that against our own financial interests,” Elvish said.
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Elvish → wish → interests
“These cameras, they’re not just cameras,” he continued.
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he → ’re → ?
“They are computers, and … they are designed intentionally to be insecure computers on a network, so that they can gain a toehold.”
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they → design → toehold
According to Sami Khoury, a recently-retired top government cybersecurity official, it would be “doable” but challenging to use such cameras in a safe way.
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it → accord → way
“If your networks are not properly segmented, you run the risk of the vulnerability being exploited indirectly,” he explained.
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he → segment → risk
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