External Research Associate
Research Keywords:
International relations; foreign policy; governance and civil society; China鈥檚 global influence, particularly in Southeast Asia
Research Region(s):
Canada, China, Indo-Pacific, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Taiwan
Julia G. Bentley is an external research associate at the York Centre for Asian Research, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, a senior fellow at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and a Non-Resident Fellow at National Taiwan University's Centre for China Studies, Julia is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia.
She served in the Canadian foreign service with distinction for 32 years, occupying several senior executive positions at Global Affairs Canada related to Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.
Julia has also represented Canada as a diplomat abroad. She served as Canada鈥檚 High Commissioner in Malaysia (2017-2020) and previously at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (twice), the Canadian High Commission in Delhi, and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei.
Combined with other roles including as a teacher, development consultant, and head of an international organization, she spent 22 years in Asia.
In 2022, Julia was on secondment for a year at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
She was awarded a policy practitioner fellowship at the University of British Columbia鈥檚 School of Public Policy and Global Affairs for a semester in spring 2023.
She was awarded a grant from 快播视频's China Insights Fund and a Taiwan Fellowship to conduct research for three months in spring 2025, based at National Taiwan University's Centre for China Research.
She holds degrees in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and the University of Toronto and was a Canada-China Scholar in modern history at Nanjing University.
Select publications
Reimagining China Studies: Taiwan as a Platform for Engaging with the Sinosphere (September 2025)
Julia Bentley: Deepening Canada鈥檚 Academic and Research Collaboration with the Indo-Pacific (09 May 2024)
in Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 29, no. 2, Special issue on Canada-Southeast Asia relations (July 2023)
(October 2022)
Summary reports from Canada-ASEAN symposia in Ottawa
(November 2025)
(May 2025)
(June 2024)
Building Long-term Relationships to Foster Canada-ASEAN Economic Security and Resilience (October 2024)