Canon will, and do, cover their warranties internationally - some items come with an 'international' warranty, some come with a localised warranty to where they were sold - the biggest problem with warranties comes from not having a valid 'proof of purchase', e.g. the invoice/receipt for the unit itself - Case in point, if you buy a Powershot G6 in Australia you'll get an Australian warranty, if you go on a world trip, have a problem in Sweden, take it to Canon Sweden they'll repair it under warranty, and charge the warranty labour and parts back to Canon Australia internally - providing you have the invoice that proves it was legitimately bought from a Canon dealer in Australia... if you had a grey import, serial numbered for Hong Kong, and an Australian invoice, you won't get a warranty... if you don't have an invoice, you won't get a warranty - the difficulties with warranties come from stopping grey marketing of units, not from a desire to stop people getting faulty equipment fixed - Canon want you to be happy using their gear, it means more people will want it, ultimately...