Owing to the
special status of Hong Kong and Macau, the Consulate General of Canada reports directly to
Global Affairs Canada in
Ottawa rather than through the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, although it does work closely with its counterparts at the embassy.[3] Under an agreement signed on September 19, 1996, Ottawa and Beijing agreed that the then Commission, to be called the Consulate General, would continue to operate as regulated by normal diplomatic procedures (such as the
1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations).[4]
In common with the missions of most other countries in Hong Kong, the Consulate General does not have its own
chancery building. In 1985 it moved located on the 11th to 14th floors in
Exchange Square, at 8 Connaught Road Central. These offices provide a base for 23 Canada-based diplomats and 117 locally employed staff delivering a wide variety of services. The office relocated again in 2014 to two locations:
Office of the Consul-General/Canadian Trade Commissioner Service/Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Service: 5th floor, Tower 3, Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place
Consular Section, Immigration Section, Canada Border Services Agency: 9th floor, Berkshire House, 25 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
Administration Section: 8th floor, Berkshire House, 25 Westlands Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
The history of Canadian diplomatic missions in the territory began in 1923 when a Canadian Immigration office was established in Hong Kong. In 1929, Trade Commissioner Paul Sykes opened the Canadian Trade Commission. At the start of World War II (1941), the office was closed, but it reopened in 1946.
^Kung Huang. "XXIII Chief Delegates of the Canadian Consular Office in Hong Kong while Ceded to United Kingdom". The History of Organizational System of Sino-Canadian Diplomatic and Consular Relations with Directory of Chief Delegates of Canadian Missions in China and Chief Delegates of Chinese Missions in Canada, 1909~1997. Translated by Frances Li.
Taipei: Bacon Cultural Enterprise Co., Ltd. pp. 93–4.
ISBN957-788-116-5.