Trudeau's government summons the Chinese ambassador Kong Beiyu, after Conservative MP Michael Chong said that the Canadian intelligence agency identified a diplomat in Toronto as part of a plot aimed at intimidating him and his relatives in Hong Kong.

For her part, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Ottawa may resort to expelling diplomats from Canada.

Meanwhile, a Member of Parliament in Toronto, who was dropped by the Liberal Party days before the last federal election due to the revelation of a sexual assault charge that was withdrawn, said he was a victim of "entrapment" tactics by the Chinese government.

Kevin Vuong, who sits as an independent MP for Spadina-Fort York, suggested on Thursday that the woman behind the charge against him in 2019 may have been a Chinese worker.