Verdict Postponed for Ex–Hydro-Québec Employee Charged With Economic Espionage for China

The verdict in the case of a former Hydro-Québec employee accused of spying on behalf of China has been postponed.

The decision had been scheduled for June 5, but the Quebec court was informed that day that the presiding judge was not able to deliver a verdict in the case of 38-year-old Chinese national Yuesheng Wang.

Wang, a resident of Candiac, Que., was arrested in November 2022 and became the first person in Canada charged with economic espionage under the Security of Information Act, according to the RCMP. He was also charged under the Criminal Code with fraudulent use of a computer, fraudulently obtaining a trade secret, and breach of trust.

Wang is accused of using his position as a researcher at Hydro-Québec to conduct research for a Chinese university and other research centres in China. He has also been accused of publishing scientific articles and submitting patents in collaboration with a foreign entity.

The Crown also alleges that Wang submitted applications to Chinese universities through a tool used by Beijing to recruit foreign-trained scientists from overseas Chinese communities. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has raised concerns about the program, describing it as a “non-traditional” way of collecting intelligence from other nations that Beijing uses to advance its objectives.

Wang also faces two additional charges laid in 2024 related to carrying out preparatory acts on behalf of a foreign entity—the Chinese regime.

He has pleaded not guilty to the allegations and said in 2022 that he would remain in Canada to clear his name. 

Wang’s case is set to return to court on Sept. 8 to set a new date for the verdict.

During his trial last November, Wang said the information he shared is open source and stems from his lengthy academic career researching sodium-ion batteries before he moved to Quebec.

He worked as a researcher with Hydro-Québec’s Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage, which specializes in developing battery materials for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems. He was hired by the company in 2016 on a work visa.

Patrick Phan, head of strategic projects and partnerships at the Hydro-Québec research institute, testified before the Longueuil courthouse last October and said he learned of an unauthorized paper published in March 2022 under Wang’s name after a colleague asked whether the company’s intellectual property committee was aware of the publication. 

Phan noted the publication hadn’t gone through the committee.

This finding triggered an internal probe that escalated to Hydro-Québec’s corporate security branch, which filed a complaint that led to an RCMP investigation in August 2022.

RCMP Insp. David Beaudoin said at a Nov. 14, 2022, press conference announcing Wang’s arrest that Wang allegedly obtained information “to the benefit of the People’s Republic of China to the detriment of Canada’s economic interests.”

Wang was released on bail later that month after a Quebec judge ruled that he was not a flight risk.

During a court session last October, a member of the prosecution team said the charge against Wang for fraudulently obtaining a trade secret had been withdrawn.

The court also heard last October that Wang did not hide his collaborations with Chinese institutions, as he listed them in 2019 when he sought a reclassification of his position. A manager warned Wang at the time that he could not publish with external institutions without informing Hydro-Québec, and Wang agreed to stop, Phan told the court.

Beijing Interference in Canada

Following the revelations of Wang’s case in 2022, Conservative Sen. Leo Housakous said the case was evidence of China’s interference in Canada.

“Chinese espionage at Canada’s largest power utility is yet another incident of interference by Beijing in Canada’s democracy, and is yet another example of why a foreign influence registry as called for in my Bill #S237 is so necessary,” Housakos said in a Nov. 17, 2022, post on X.

Bill S-237, an act to establish the foreign influence registry and to amend the Criminal Code, completed first reading in the Senate in February 2022, but it did not proceed to second reading.

Meanwhile, Parliament passed Bill C-70 in June 2024, allowing for the creation of a foreign influence registry to track individuals in Canada acting on behalf of foreign states.

The government announced in March that it was appointing former B.C. chief electoral officer Anton Boegman as Canada’s first foreign influence transparency commissioner, who is expected to oversee the registry. However, the registry has yet to become operational, even though the government said it would be by the end of last year.

The push to create the registry followed findings of the Foreign Interference Commission, which released its final report in January 2025, concluding that China is “the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions” and that China views Canada as “a high-priority target.”

Carolina Avendano and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.