MP Questions Global Affairs Over Unfinished Review of Canadas China-Led Bank Membership

The logo of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at its headquarters in Beijing on June 15, 2023. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty ImagesA Global Affairs Canada official told MPs this week he ks unsure if a review announced in 2023 of Canada’s membership in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been completed.Conservative MP Jacob Mantle asked Global Affairs Canada director general Shawn Steil about the review during Steil’s Oct. 28 testimony before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.“It has been three years since the government announced a review of its participation in the bank,” Mantle said. “Has that review been completed?”“I don’t believe that anyone on the panel of experts here today has knowledge of the latest developments on the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,” Steil replied. “However, we can commit to getting back to the member with the latest information that we have at a later date.”The Canadian government suspended its activities at the AIIB in 2023 after its former director general of global communications Bob Pickard voiced concern about Chinese control of the institution.Pickard said in June 2023 that he could not “find a single tangible benefit to communicate back home here to Canada of what this bank does that is consistent with our values in a way that would benefit Canadians.”Pickard announced his resignation from the bank on June 14, 2023, saying it was “dominated” by members of the Chinese Communist Party and had a “toxic” culture. The same day, then-Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada would cease all activity with the AIIB and launch a review of Pickard’s allegations.Conservative MP Jacob Mantle asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 4, 2026. The Canadian Press/Sean KilpatrickThe AIIB, China’s multilateral development bank to rival the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, was created to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia through the financing of key infrastructure. Canada became a member of the AIIB in 2017, and allocated $256 million to purchase shares in the bank.Mantle noted Canada had a total contribution of more than $1.36 billion to the AIIB as of Dec. 31, 2025, of which $273 million had been paid. He said Canada continues to have a “legal obligation” to pay back the remaining amount “if called upon.”The Tory PM asked when the review of Canada’s membership in the bank might be completed. Steil replied that “none of us here are responsible for this actual bank, and therefore we do not have the information that the member of the committee would like to have.”Mantle requested that the information be presented in written form to the committee, as well as documentation on whether Canada has exercised any of its voting rights at the bank, sent officials to attend meetings, or made further payments or financial contributions to the institution.