The Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA), one of the largest bi-lateral trade association in Canada, has more than 1,000 members in 8 active Sections in major cities (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax – and Representatives in Hong Kong, Regina Saskatchewan and London Ontario – together with strong dynamic connections to 33 similar trade groups in 24 countries around the world through the Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide (FHKBAW).

HKCBA exists to encourage two-way trade between Canada and Hong Kong, and through Hong Kong to the rest of China and Asia, and to provide a forum for discussion of trade issues involving Hong Kong and Canada, and to promote policies – by both governments – that will lead to expanded trade and closer ties between the two. It does this by sponsoring meetings and professional presentations on topics of interest, leading trade delegations, and by organizing cultural exchanges.

The organization originated with a series of informal discussions among participants at the Pacific Rim Opportunities Conference held in Calgary in 1983. This initial discussion included John Treleaven, then Canada’s Senior Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong, Len Dunning, then the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Robert Issenman, a prominent attorney in Montreal, and Martin Glynn, then a Vice-President of the Hongkong Bank of Canada (now HSBC Bank Canada) in Vancouver.