It's hard to think of it as a broad policy mechanism, because every country's situation is different. Using Hong Kong as an example, you can say that a lot of people are at risk right now, but we don't know exactly at what point they will become at risk. We know the police can arrest them at any time, but we don't know on what day. Technically, let's say you are a democracy activist in Hong Kong and you have not been arrested. Are you considered at risk under our definition of conventional refugee? Maybe not.
In the case of Hong Kong, I think what our government can do is work with community groups like ours, which have connections in Hong Kong, identify people who we think are potentially at risk because of their involvement, and try to find a way to bring them here through the temporary resident permit or through some other way.
Even if the Canadian government doesn't want to advertise it, because it doesn't want to make the relationship with China any worse, there are ways we can work together.