Canada is to apply to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Ottawa's finance department said Wednesday, in a coup for Beijing after Washington previously tried to dissuade its allies from signing up.

"Canada is always looking for ways to create hope and opportunity for our middle class as well as for people around the world," finance minister Bill Morneau said in a statement issued in Beijing. "Membership in the AIIB is an opportunity to do just that."