China purchased the building at St. Patrick Street in 1972,[1] soon after diplomatic relations were established between Canada and the PRC.

The embassy's consular district covers the Ottawa region, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Nunavut.

Canada insisted that the staff members be subjected to fairly rigid travel rules for security reasons.

Lu Shaye was the most recent ambassador, but as of June 2019, now works for the Chinese embassy in Paris.

[4] Zhao Wei was declared persona non grata in Canada after attempting to apply pressure to Conservative MP Michael Chong due to Chong's criticism of China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population.