Later, airline Saudia suspended all flights to and from Toronto and Riyadh said it will relocate the thousands of Saudi students studying in Canada.

Harbash added that they are capable of transferring all Saudi students from Canada to countries with cultural missions in the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia, all of which are considered countries with top education institutions, and have good relations with Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh on Sunday recalled its ambassador from Canada and gave the Canadian ambassador to Saudi Arabia 24 hours to leave.

Canada on Monday refused to back down in its defense of human rights after Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment and expelled the Canadian ambassador in retaliation for Ottawa's call to free arrested Saudi civil society activists.

The government also froze all new trade with Canada, and ordered approximately 16,000 Saudi students studying overseas in Canada to return home or complete their study in other countries.

Thompson Rivers University stands to lose nearly one-tenth of worldwide students on its campus - and tens of thousands of dollars in revenue - as a result of a diplomatic row between Canada and Saudi Arabia.

Samar Badawi is a famed women's right activist and is the sister of Raif Badawi, a blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years for insulting Islam by a Saudi Arabian court in 2014.

Insurers warn on Trump's short-term health plans
Enrollment for the law's subsidized private insurance is fairly stable, and HealthCare.gov insurers are making money again. A return to the pre-ACA days of health insurance is a return to the days of lifetime and annual limits on coverage.

A number of rights campaigners, including award-winning gender rights activist Samar Badawi, have been arrested in the kingdom.

"We are always going to speak up for human rights, we are always going to speak up for women's rights and that is not going to change, " Freeland said from Vancouver on Monday.

Prince Mohammed, heir to the region's most powerful throne, has introduced a string of reforms such as lifting a decades-long ban on women drivers in a bid to overhaul the kingdom's austere image.

Badawi's wife Ensaf Haidar has been granted asylum by Canada, where she is raising their three children. "They are the best interlocutor for Canada in the region", he said.

When asked about the contract, Freeland said the government "looks forward" to hearing from Riyadh about the future of the deal.

Media captionSaudi Arabia's permanent representative to the United Nations confirmed the change in policy What has the relationship between Saudi Arabia and Canada been like in the past?

In its first response to the row, the Canadian foreign ministry said: "we are seriously concerned by these media reports and are seeking greater clarity on the recent statement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".