CANADA may not quite be classifiable as Hong Kong's second home . . . yet. However, it is certainly moving that way.
As Britain's tenure on the territory comes to an inevitable end, a remarkable alternative alliance - both personal and economic - has been slowly but surely forged with Canada.
Ten per cent of Toronto's population is now of Hong Kong-Chinese origin and 60 per cent of all emigrants from the territory settle in Canada.
Hong Kong tycoons are dominant among Canada's top 10 foreign investors.
Cheung Kong's chairman, Li Ka-shing, is the biggest foreign investor in Canada where Chinese is the third most-spoken language, after English and French.
Canada's ethnic Chinese population totals 800,000. And 250,000 of them come from Hong Kong.
Hongkong Bank of Canada is the seventh-largest. The Hong Kong-Canadian Business Association counts 3,500 members in Canada and the country's second-oldest diplomatic mission is here. It dates back to 1928.