Hong Kong Canadians ( or ) are Canadians who were born or raised in Hong Kong, hold permanent residency in Hong Kong, or those who may trace their ancestry back to the territory. In Canada, the majority of Hong Kong Canadians reside in the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver. Many Hong Kong Canadians continue to maintain their status as Hong Kong permanent residents. The largest wave of immigration to Canada from Hong Kong occurred during the late 1980s and early 1990s, as a result of the uncertainties concerning the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong from Britain to China in 1997. In the decades that followed the handover of Hong Kong, a number of Hong Kong Canadians have moved back to the territory. As of 2014, Hong Kong has the highest concentration of Canadian citizens in Asia, with approximately 300,000 Canadian citizens of all ethnic backgrounds living in the territory. History 19th century Earlier immigrants from Hong Kong first arrived in Canada during the early 19th Century. After Hong Kong became a British crown colony, number of Hongkongers migrated to North America, including Canada. 20th century Most Hong Kong Canadians are immigrants or are descendants of Chinese migrants who have settled in Canada from the late 1970s. However, a minority of Hongkongers also migrated to Canada during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1984, the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed, finalizing an agreement between the British and Chinese governments to transfer and reorganize Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China on July 1, 1997. Anxiety over the impending handover sparked a large wave of emigration from Hong Kong to the Anglosphere between 1984 and 1997. One of the most popular destinations chosen by Hong Kong emigrants of the time was Canada, where thousands of Hongkongers settled in Greater Toronto and Metro Vancouver. According to the Canadian International Council, approximately 335,646 Hongkongers moved to Canada between 1984 and 1997. The immigration of Hongkongers to Canada peaked in 1994, with 44,271 Hongkongers migrating to the country in that year alone. A number of Hong Kong family units that moved to Canada during the 1990s were examples of an astronaut family, where most of the family unit was based in Canada, but one parent continued to live and work in Hong Kong. 21st century The early 21st century saw a "reverse migration" of Hongkongers, with a number