The government of Canada has officially submitted its application to join the China-led US$100-billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), aimed to finance projects in sectors such as transport, energy and telecom in the Asia region.

According to Canada's government, the partnership with the Chinese bank will help the country to further engage in multilateral infrastructure efforts as well as enabling Canadian companies to access new business opportunities.

In early January we informed that the AIIB opened its doors in Beijing. China has a 30 per cent stake in the AIIB, which is led by Jin Liqin, China’s former vice finance minister. He said the bank will be “lean, clean and green”, and will not have the bureaucratic structure of other multilateral organizations, allowing it to kick-start projects faster.

Canada will join other 57 countries and will be the first North American member of the bank in the face of opposition of  from the United States. According to sources, American officials have expressed concerns about the new bank providing loans to countries without requiring labour rights or anti-corruption reforms as well as environmental attention, as are taken into account in loans from  the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The AIIB is lending to projects involving energy and power, transport and telecoms, rural infrastructure, water supply, environmental protection and logistics. The bank has already invested more than US$500 million in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan, and Chinese officials said it plans to loan out US$10-15 billion over the next five years.