The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said it is "aware" of foreign interference in Canada as it works to combat it, but it will not confirm whether it will investigate allegations that China tried to interfere in the 2019 federal election.

This statement comes following Global News reports last week that Canadian intelligence officials warned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China is targeting Canada with a broad foreign interference campaign—including funding a secret network of at least 11 federal candidates in the United States for the year 2019.

"The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are aware of foreign interference activities in Canada by foreign government entities," said a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a statement to Global News on Friday, adding that various methods and techniques are applied to combat foreign interference within the RCMP's jurisdiction. He continued: "For security reasons, we cannot speak in detail about this, however, if any criminal or illegal activities occur inside Canada that are proven to be supported by a foreign state, it is within the jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate this activity."

Global News also reported on Wednesday that a prominent businessman in the Chinese community in Toronto is under two separate investigations related to foreign interference, both of which involve a series of briefings and memos allegedly provided by Canadian security officials to Trudeau starting in January. Sources said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service investigated Wei Chengyi for his alleged role in a secret scheme that facilitated massive money transfers aimed at boosting Beijing’s interests in the 2019 Canadian federal election. According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police sources, national security investigators also questioned Wei about possible links to several properties in Toronto and Vancouver alleged to be used as "police stations" for the Chinese government, believed to secretly host agents of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

Additionally, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed it is investigating so-called "police stations" in Toronto and Vancouver, which followed media reports about their alleged activities. But the force’s comments on its awareness of foreign interference come amidst a week of questions in the House of Commons about steps the government may have taken in response to the intelligence briefing reported by Global News.